Transcriber's Note:
When italics were used in the original book, the corresponding text has
been surrounded by _underscores_. Superscripted characters have been
preceded by ^ and surrounded by {} when more than one character is
superscripted. Some corrections have been made to the original. These
are detailed in a second transcriber's note at the end of the document.
[Illustration:
_Capt^n. JONATHAN CARVER._
_From the_ Original Picture _in the possession of J.C. Lettsom M.D._
_Published as the Act directs, by R. Stewart, N^o. 287, near G^t.
Turnstile, Holborn Nov^r. 16, 1780._
]
TRAVELS
THROUGH THE
INTERIOR PARTS
OF
NORTH AMERICA,
IN THE
YEARS 1766, 1767, and 1768.
BY J. CARVER, ESQ.
CAPTAIN OF A COMPANY OF PROVINCIAL
TROOPS DURING THE LATE
WAR WITH FRANCE.
ILLUSTRATED WITH COPPER PLATES,
COLOURED.
THE THIRD EDITION.
To which is added, SOME ACCOUNT OF THE
AUTHOR, AND A COPIOUS INDEX.
LONDON:
Printed for C. DILLY, in the Poultry; H. PAYNE, in Pall-mall; and J.
PHILLIPS, in George-Yard, Lombard-Street.
MDCCLXXXI.
ADVERTISEMENT.
FEW works have had a more rapid sale than the following; two large
editions having been disposed of in two years. This induced the
proprietors to print a third: but, as soon as this impression was
finished, I purchased both the printed copies and the copy-right.
I have since added to the work, some Account of the Author’s life, and
an Index to the Travels, which are published separately, for the
convenience of the purchasers of the first and second editions; on whom,
I was unwilling to raise an extraordinary tax for the third edition.
JOHN COAKLEY LETTSOM.
London, March 30, 1781.
TO
JOSEPH BANKS, Esq;
PRESIDENT
OF THE
ROYAL SOCIETY.
SIR,
WHEN the Public are informed that I have long had the Honour of your
Acquaintance——that my Design in publishing the following Work has
received your Sanction——that the Composition of it has stood the Test of
your Judgment——and that it is by your Permission a Name so deservedly
eminent in the Literary World is prefixed to it, I need not be
apprehensive of its Success; as your Patronage will unquestionably give
them Assurance of its Merit.
For this public Testimony of your Favour, in which I pride myself,
accept, Sir, my most grateful Acknowledgments; and believe me to be,
with great Respect,
Your obedient
humble Servant,
J. CARVER.
AN
ADDRESS
TO THE
PUBLIC.
THE SECOND EDITION.
_The favourable reception this Work has met with, claims the Author’s
most grateful acknowledgments. A large edition having run off in a few
months, and the sale appearing to be still unabated, a new impression is
become necessary. On this occasion was he to conceal his feelings, and
pass over, in silence, a distinction so beneficial and flattering, he
would justly incur the imputation of ingratitude. That he might not do
this, he takes the opportunity, which now presents itself, of conveying
to the Public (though in terms inadequate to the warm emotions of his
heart) the sense he entertains of their favour; and thus transmits to
them his thanks._
_In this new edition, care has been taken to rectify those errors which
have unavoidably proceeded from the hurry of the press, and likewise any
incorrectness in the language that has found its way into it._
_The credibility of some of the incidents related in the following
pages, and some of the stories introduced therein, having been
questioned, particularly the prognostication of the Indian priest on the
banks of Lake Superior, and the story of the Indian and his rattle
snake, the author thinks it necessary to avail himself of the same
opportunity, to endeavour to eradicate any impressions that might have
been made on the minds of his readers, by the apparent improbability of
these relations._
_As to the former, he has related it just as it happened. Being an
eye-witness to the whole transaction (and, he flatters himself, at the
time, free from every trace of sceptical obstinacy or enthusiastic
credulity) he was consequently able to describe every circumstance
minutely and impartially. This he has done; but without endeavouring to
account for the means by which it was accomplished. Whether the
prediction was the result of prior observations, from which certain
consequences were expected to follow by the sagacious priest, and the
completion of it merely accidental; or whether he was really endowed
with supernatural powers, the narrator left to the judgment of his
readers; whose conclusions, he supposes, varied according as the mental
faculties of each were disposed to admit or reject facts that cannot be
accounted for by natural causes._
_The story of the rattle snake was related to him by a French gentleman
of undoubted veracity; and were the readers of this work as thoroughly
acquainted with the sagacity and instinctive proceedings of that animal,
as he is, they would be as well assured of the truth of it. It is well
known, that those snakes which have survived through the summer the
accidents reptiles are liable to, periodically retire to the woods, at
the approach of winter; where each (as curious observers have remarked)
takes possession of the cavity it had occupied the preceding year. As
soon as the season is propitious, enlivened by the invigorating rays of
the sun, they leave these retreats, and make their way to the same spot,
though ever so distant, on which they before had found subsistence, and
the means of propagating their species. Does it then require any
extraordinary exertions of the mind to believe, that one of these
regular creatures, after having been kindly treated by its master,
should return to the box, in which it had usually been supplied with
food, and had met with a comfortable abode, and that nearly about the
time the Indian, from former experiments, was able to guess at? It
certainly does not; nor will the liberal and ingenuous doubt the truth
of a story so well authenticated, because the circumstances appear
extraordinary in a country where the subject of it is scarcely known._
_These explanations the author hopes will suffice to convince his
readers, that he has not, as travellers are sometimes supposed to do,
amused them with improbable tales, or wished to acquire importance by
making his adventures savour of the marvellous._
SOME
ACCOUNT
OF
CAPTAIN J. CARVER.
THERE is a disposition peculiar to every mind, that early predominates,
and continues its influence through every period of life. Many
circumstances may, indeed, obscure or divert its progress; but on all
interesting occasions this constitutional bias will recur, and exhibit
the natural character and genius of the individual.
Jonathan Carver, the author of the following work, was grandson of
William Joseph Carver, of Wigan, in Lancashire, who was a captain in the
army under king William, and served in Ireland with such distinguished
reputation, that that prince was pleased to reward him with the
government of Connecticut in New-England, which appears to have been the
first appointment to that station by the crown.
Our author was born, anno 1732, at Stillwater, in the province of
Connecticut, since rendered famous by the surrender of the army under
General Burgoyne; his father, who resided at this place, and acted as a
justice of the peace, died, when he was only fifteen years of age. He
had received the rudiments of as liberal an education as could be
procured in that neighbourhood, and, being designed for the practice of
medicine, he was soon after his father’s death placed with a gentleman
of that profession in Elizabeth Town, in the same province. A profession
that requires not only a close and regular attention, but likewise a
steady perseverance, was not suited to that spirit of bold enterprize
and adventure, which seemed to be the ruling passion of our author, who,
at the age of eighteen, purchased an ensigncy in the Connecticut
regiment, in which, as I have been informed, he acquired so much
reputation, as to obtain the command of a company. Of this event,
however, I have not found the least mention among his papers, nor,
indeed, of any other important circumstance of his life till the year
1757, when he was in the army under General Webb, and fortunately
escaped the dreadful massacre at Fort William Henry, where nearly 1500
brave troops were destroyed in cold blood by the Indians in the French
army of General Montcalm.
In the ensuing year, 1758, a battalion of light infantry, commanded by
Colonel Oliver Partridge, was raised in the province of Massachusets
Bay, by order of Governor Pownall, for the purpose of invading Canada,
in which our author served as second lieutenant of Captain Hawks’s
company; and in 1760 he was advanced to be captain of a company in
Colonel Whetcomb’s regiment of foot, during the administration of
Governor Hutchinson. In Governor Barnard’s time, in 1762, Captain Carver
commanded a company of foot in Colonel Saltonstall’s regiment.
I have not been able to collect any anecdotes of our author, during his
military services; but from the written recommendations in my hands, of
persons high in office, under whom he acted, he appears to have
acquitted himself with great reputation, and much to the satisfaction of
his superior officers. These recommendations are not confined to
military conduct merely; they uniformly introduce him as a person of
piety, and of a good moral character. Throughout the narrative of his
travels, indeed, an animated regard to the duties of religion is
evidently prevalent, which must procure a credibility to the facts he
mentions, that might otherwise be suspended. If authors, who have
visited countries unknown to their contemporaries, had always been
actuated by a sacred regard to truth and moral rectitude, history in
general would have been developed with just and convincing relations,
and not left involved in doubt and obscurity.
This firm integrity and undaunted courage appeared evident upon every
interesting occasion: they were, indeed, essentially requisite to
conduct him through the most dangerous enterprizes with a perseverance
that is more generally the offspring of true fortitude, than of daring
boldness or impetuosity of imagination.
With so many favourable requisites for success and advancement,
descended from parents respectable for their military and civil dignity,
as well as for their fortune; endued with courage, sagacity, and a
spirit of enterprize, rarely united in one individual, it might be an
object of enquiry, why Captain Carver, whose conduct was so excellent,
in a moral as well as in a military view, should never have been
promoted above the command of a company.
It is a truth confirmed by history, that true fortitude is the genuine
offspring of an humble mind. Whatever we acquire by industry and labour,
we are apt highly to estimate; it is a kind of new creation of our own;
and a persuasion of this, inspires ambition, and even a forward ardour
for distinction; and what a partial imagination magnifies to ourselves,
we naturally magnify to others, and gradually acquire a consequence, and
reap rewards adequate, if not superior, to desert: but the naturally
brave is naturally modest; what is innate, does not present itself to
the imagination as its own; it neither begets vanity, nor excites
ambition; and thus great endowments, which might have been cherished,
and turned to the most important advantages, are frequently neglected,
and lost to society. Whatever natural or acquired excellencies were
possessed by Captain Carver, not only seemed unnoticed by himself, but
were accompanied by a diffidence, which in some instances was
extraordinary indeed; and the reader must be convinced of this, when he
is informed, that Captain Carver died, through want, with three
commissions in his pocket.
The year after his commission under Colonel Saltonstall was signed, the
peace of Versailles took place, namely, anno 1763, when our author,
having discharged his military obligations to his country, retired from
the army. But his natural turn for enterprize, and the pursuit of
novelty, did not suffer him to enjoy a life of useless ease; he began to
consider, to use his own sentiments (having rendered his country some
services during the war) how he might continue still serviceable, and
contribute, as much as lay in his power, to make that vast acquisition
of territory, gained by Great Britain in North America, advantageous to
it; and here he commences his own biographer, continuing his relation in
the following history of his travels, till his visit to England in the
year 1769.
Though I have not been able to procure many additional anecdotes of this
ingenious traveller, yet a respect to his memory, and a sense of his
services to the nation at large, excited a desire to bring together a
few outlines of his character, and probably at some future period, when
the present unhappy contest between this kingdom and the American
colonies shall have subsided, particulars of more importance than I have
been able to meet with, may be procured from that part of the world,
which he has taken so much useful labour to describe.
This barrenness of materials is, however, in some degree compensated by
the important relations he has communicated in the succeeding pages,
which not only regard himself, but likewise a part of the great American
continent, hitherto almost unknown to the inhabitants of Europe, and
even to those of the cultivated parts of the same continent.
In his descriptions of these vast regions, he seems to have embraced
every opportunity of pointing out the advantages which might be derived
in a commercial view, from a just knowledge of them, and of the policy
of the various tribes who possess them. In his picturesque view of the
scenery round Lake Pepin, his imagination, animated as it was by the
magnitude, the novelty, and grandeur of the objects, is not so far
transported, as to interrupt the most scrupulous attention to the
situation, as improveable for commercial and national advantages.
In the midst of a new and rich creation, he suggested the probability of
rendering this lake, and its variegated environs, the center of immense
traffick, with a people whose names and tribes were scarcely known to
the commercial parts of either side of the British empire, but whose
dispositions and pursuits seemed calculated to promote and secure this
interesting and national benefit.
The lake, which is about twenty miles in length, and six in breadth, and
through which the Mississippi directs its course, is about two thousand
miles from the entrance into the gulf of Mexico, and as many westerly
from Quebec, Boston, and New-York; it is situated between 42 and 43
degrees of north latitude. The plains in its vicinity are extensive, and
fit for immediate cultivation: elk, deer, and other quadrupeds,
including the beaver, otter, mink, martin, sable, musk-rat, and the
largest buffaloes in America, are the inhabitants of this region, whilst
various species of wild fowl frequent the lake, whose waters are stored
with fish in great abundance; vegetation is luxuriant in the meadows,
where the maple is indigenous, of whose sap the Indians make great
quantities of sugar, capable of fermentation, and of producing spirit;
the grapes hang in such clusters, that almost any quantity of brandy
might, under a like process, be distilled from them; rice, a grain
adapted to many useful purposes of life, is also very plentiful.
The number of hunting Indians, who frequent Lake Pepin, is not less than
2000, each of whom brings about one hundred pounds weight of beaver to
barter, which, at the lowest price, in the London market, is five
shillings a pound; hence a trade at this place will command annually
200000 crowns worth of furs, besides skins. But there is reason to
conclude, that when a general mart is established here, furnished with a
sufficient assortment of goods, and a supply of liquors, that there
would be a more general resort of traders.
The French, indeed, supported a trade at this lake, before the English
had made a conquest of the country; but they never attempted the
lucrative branch of distilling spirituous liquors upon the spot, though
they have been conveyed hither two thousand miles of difficult carriage,
and produced considerable profit.
It may be doubted in a moral, if not in a political view, whether such a
traffic of rendering the means of inebriation more easily attainable,
should meet with the encouragement of the legislature. Captain Carver,
however, computed that 2000 gallons of brandy could be made on the spot,
as cheap as in the West-Indies; and that by avoiding the expence of 3000
miles carriage also, the traders would make a saving of 2000 per cent.
besides duties and various contingencies: and as, by a moderate
computation, every gallon of spirits will produce there what will amount
to ten pounds in the London market, it must eventually prove a most
lucrative branch of trade, if pursued with proper caution and policy.
The great plenty of the edible necessaries of life, will afford a cheap,
easy, and salutary supply; and the goodness of the soil, with very
little labour, will render provisions still more easily attainable, and
altogether form a place of traffic hitherto unequalled.
From Captain Carver’s long residence in the neighbourhood of Lake Pepin,
among the Naudowissie and Chipéway Indians, he acquired a knowledge of
their languages, and an intimacy with many of their chiefs, which, with
his spirited and judicious conduct in acting as a mediator between these
two nations, conciliated their attachment and friendship; and as an
acknowledgment of their grateful sense of his happy interference, the
Naudowissies gave him a formal grant of a tract of land, lying on the
north side of Lake Pepin. The original, duly subscribed by two chiefs,
is in my possession; and as an Indian deed of conveyance may prove a
curiosity to many readers, I shall here insert a copy of it.
“To Jonathan Carver, a chief under the most mighty and potent George the
Third, King of the English and other nations, the fame of whose
courageous warriors have reached our ears, and has been more fully told
us by our good brother Jonathan aforesaid, whom we rejoice to see come
among us, and bring us good news from his country. We, chiefs of the
Naudowissies, who have hereto set our seals, do by these presents for
ourselves and heirs for ever, in return for the many presents, and other
good services done by the said Jonathan to ourselves and allies, give,
grant, and convey to him the said Jonathan, and to his heirs and assigns
for ever, the whole of a certain tract or territory of land, bounded as
follows: (viz.) from the fall of St. Anthony, running on the east banks
of the Mississippi, nearly south-east, as far as the south end of Lake
Pepin, where the Chipéway river joins the Mississippi, and from thence
eastward five days travel, accounting twenty English miles per day, and
from thence north six days travel, at twenty English miles per day, and
from thence again to the fall of St. Anthony, on a direct straight line.
We do for ourselves, heirs, and assigns, for ever, give unto the said
Jonathan, his heirs and assigns, for ever, all the said lands, with all
the trees, rocks, and rivers therein, reserving for ourselves and heirs
the sole liberty of hunting and fishing on land not planted or improved
by the said Jonathan, his heirs and assigns, to which we have affixed
our respective seals, at the great cave, May the first, one thousand
seven hundred and sixty-seven.”
[Illustration:
Hawnopawjatin his mark (top)
Otohtongoomlisheaw his mark (bottom)
]
Soon after the above period, our author concluded to return to Boston,
where he arrived in 1768, having been absent two years and five months,
during which time he had travelled about seven thousand miles. After
digesting his journal and charts, he sailed for England, and arrived
there in the year 1769. The reasons which induced him to undertake this
voyage, are amply related by himself in his travels (page 177.) to which
I refer.
Few objects have excited a more general enquiry than the discovery of a
north-west passage, in order to open a communication with the great
pacific ocean and the East Indies, by a shorter navigation than by
doubling those immense promontories, the Cape of Good Hope or Cape Horn.
Every allurement of gain, and national emolument, has been proposed to
encourage the attempt, but, hitherto, every attempt hath been fruitless,
though the most experienced seamen have engaged in the undertaking. Our
traveller suggested an attempt by land, across the north west parts of
North America, and actually drew a chart of his proposed route for
effecting his project, which, however visionary it may now be deemed,
affords at least a proof of the enterprizing spirit of Captain Carver,
and which he would, probably, have attempted, had any encouragement been
afforded him: (introd. pag. 6. and append. pag. 539, et seq.)
When he visited England, he appeared with the most favourable
credentials of his character in every respect: many of these are now in
my possession; but that which seemed to promise the most beneficial
advantages, was conferred upon him by General Gage, and, in consequence
of a petition presented to the king, and referred to the Lords
Commissioners of Trade and Plantations, our traveller had formed the
fond hope of seeing his labours so far rewarded, as to be reimbursed
those sums he had expended in the service of government, agreeable to
the relation conveyed in the introduction to his travels.
In a large, free, and widely extended government, where every motion
depends upon a variety of springs, the lesser and subordinate movements
must be acted upon by the greater, and consequently the more inferior
operations of state will be so distant, as not to be perceived in the
grand machine: whether Captain Carver’s disappointments resulted from
these principles, or that government did not estimate his services in
equal proportion to his own idea of them, is not so easily ascertained,
as that he thought himself not only neglected, but treated with
injustice.
The condition of a suppliant is what his mind must have submitted to
with reluctance. Men of superior endowments are liable to be jealous of
the least inattention, which they are apt to consider as an insult on
their distress. A feeling mind, like his, conscious of its dignity and
superior merit, might not be able to stoop to that importunity and
adulation, which are sometimes requisite to insure the smiles and
favours of those in power; otherwise it might naturally be suggested,
that his extensive acquaintance with America, and with the customs and
languages of the Indians, in the interior parts of that vast continent,
then the theatre of an unnatural and bloody contest, would have pointed
him out as a most useful instrument in the hands of government.
With the advantages, however, of an intimate knowledge of Indian
affairs, he united a determined loyalty to the king, and a fixed
attachment to his American countrymen; and thus the principle of acting
agreeably to the feelings of conscience, would equally operate upon him
respecting the contending parties. He had repeatedly risked his life in
the service of his prince, against whose government he was equally
averse from drawing his sword, as against his transatlantic brethren: he
might not, therefore, be deemed an important acquisition to the ruling
powers here, and the prayer of his petition was scarcely heard in the
clamours of popular commotion.
Persons of ingenuity, however oppressed by their own sufferings, in a
busy commercial country, may strike out some means of subsistence; but,
in a domestic state, where many depend upon the industry of an
individual, the difficulty of procuring support is not only rendered
more affecting to the feeling mind, but likewise greatly augmented.
Captain Carver, after having exhausted his fortune, had now a family to
support, without knowing how to turn his abilities to any means of
succouring them. Distress of mind begets debility of body, which is
still aggravated by penury, and a want of the common necessaries of
life. His constitution, naturally firm, gradually grew weaker and
weaker; but his regard to his family animated his spirit to exertions
beyond the strength of his body, which enabled him to preserve existence
through the winter of 1779, by acting as a clerk in a lottery-office;
but the vital powers, succoured as they were by this casual support,
diminished by certain, though imperceptible, degrees, till at length a
putrid fever supervening a long continued dysentery brought on by want,
put an end to the life of a man, who, after rendering, at the expence of
fortune and health, and the risk of life, many important services to his
country, perished through want in the first city of the world.
In size, Captain Carver was rather above the middle stature, and of a
firm muscular texture; his features expressed a firmness of mind and
boldness of resolution; and he retained a florid complexion to his
latest moments.
In conversation he was social and affable, where he was familiar; but
his extreme diffidence and modesty kept him in general reserved in
company. In his familiar epistles, he commanded an easy and agreeable
manner of writing; and some pieces of his poetry, which have been
communicated to me, afford proofs of his lively imagination and of the
harmony of his versification.
His only authentic publications I have seen are the present work, and a
Treatise on the Culture of the Tobacco Plant, anno 1779. The former will
speak for itself: the opinion of the public has, indeed, been fully
testified by the rapid sale of two large editions of this work in the
space of the last two years.
The Treatise on Tobacco is a small octavo of fifty-four pages,
containing two engravings of the plant, and an account of its
cultivation on the American continent. As this vegetable constitutes one
of the most considerable branches of commerce betwixt the old and new
hemispheres of the world, and thrives luxuriously in Europe as well as
in America, it is now pretty generally known: from the elegance of the
plant and beauty of its flowers, it is cultivated in gardens for
ornament; in which character it will appear from a view of the annexed
engraving of it.
It was first sent into Spain, in 1560: from Tabaco, a province of
Yucatan, by Hermandez de Toledo, and from the place of its growth it
received the name which it still bears.
[Illustration:
_Drawn and Engrav’d for Carver’s Travels, as the act directs by F.
Sanson N. 16 Maiden Lane Cheapside_
The TOBACCO PLANT
_Published Nov^r. 1^{st}. 1779_
]
It was called, by the French, Nicotiana, after John Nicot, who went soon
after it was discovered, as ambassador to that court, from Francis the
Second of Portugal, and carried some of it with him.
Before the present contest between Great-Britain and the Colonies, about
96,000 hogsheads were annually imported from Maryland and Virginia,
which, with the duties on the home consumption, and the returns on
foreign export, produced an immense revenue to this country.
The general uses of Tobacco are well known; besides which, it is found
nearly equal to the best oak-bark for tanning leather, especially with
thinner sorts of hides; and would probably be used for this purpose,
were it as cheap as the bark of the oak.
Few subjects have been more copiously treated on than Tobacco: Monardes,
Stephanus, Everhartus, Thorius, Neander, Pauli, have each wrote upon it
largely. Neander published a volume on this subject, entitled,
Tobacologia, and ornamented it with plates, to exhibit its cultivation
and manner of preparation; and, lately, Captain Carver published the
above-mentioned Treatise on the Culture of this Plant, with a view to
instruct landholders in the method of cultivating it with profit, and to
this pamphlet I shall refer the reader for further particulars.
Our author died on the 31st of January 1780, at the age of forty-eight
years, and lies interred in Holywell-Mount burying-ground.
CONTENTS.
_INTRODUCTION_, i
_The Author sets out from Boston on his Travels_, 17
_Description of Fort Michillimackinac_, 18
_Description of Fort Le Bay_, 21
_Description of the Green Bay_, 26
_Description of Lake Michigan_, 28
_Arrives at the Town of the Winnebagoes_, 32
_Excursion of the Winnebagoes towards the Spanish
Settlements_, 35
_Description of the Winnebago Lake_, 37
_Instance of Resolution of an Indian Woman_, 40
_Description of the Fox River_, 41
_Remarkable Story of a Rattle Snake_, 43
_The great Town of the Saukies_, 46
_Upper Town of the Ottagaumies_, 48
_Description of the Ouisconsin River_, ib.
_Lower Town of the Ottagaumies, or La Prairie Le Chien_, 50
_An Attack by some Indian Plunderers_, 51
_Description of the Mississippi from the Mouth of the
Ouisconsin to Lake Pepin_, 54
_Description of Lake Pepin_, 55
_Remarkable Ruins of an ancient Fortification_, 57
_The River Bands of the Naudowessie Indians_, 59
_Adventure with a Party of these, and some of the Chipéways_, 60
_Description of a remarkable Cave_, 63
_Uncommon Behaviour of the Prince of the Winnebagoes at the
Falls of St. Anthony_, 66
_Description of the Falls_, 69
_Extent of the Author’s Travels_, 71
_Description of the River St. Pierre_, 74
_Sources of the Four great Rivers of North America_, 76
_Reflections on their Affinity_, 77
_The Naudowessies of the Plains, with whom the Author
wintered in the Year 1766_, 80
_The Author returns to the Mouth of the River St. Pierre_, 84
_Account of a violent Thunder-storm_, 85
_Speech made by the Author in a Council held by the
Naudowessies at the great Cave_, 86
_Adventure with a Party of Indians near Lake Pepin_, 95
_Description of the Country adjacent to the River St.
Pierre_, 100
_Account of different Clays found near the Marble River_, 101
_Description of the Chipéway River_, 102
_Extraordinary Effects of a Hurricane_, 103
_The Author arrives at the Grand Portage on the North-west
Borders of Lake Superior_, 107
_Account of the Lakes lying farther to the North-west: Lake
Bourbon, Lake Winnepeek, Lake Du Bois, Lake La Pluye, Red
Lake, &c._ ib.
_Account of a Nation of Indians supposed to have been
tributary to the Mexican Kings_, 118
_Account of the shining Mountains_, 121
_A singular Prediction of the Chief Priest of the
Killistinoes verified_, 123
_Description of Lake Superior_, 132
_Story of the two Chipéways landing on the Island of
Mauropas_, 135
_Account of great Quantities of Copper Ore_, 139
_Description of the Falls of St. Marie_, 142
_Account of Lake Huron_, 144
_Account of Saganaum and Thunder Bays_, 145
_Extraordinary Phænomenon in the Straights of
Michillimackinac_, 146
_Description of Lake St. Claire_, 150
_Description of the River, Town, and Fort of Detroit_, 153
_Remarkable Rain at Detroit_, 153
_Attack of Fort Detroit by Pontiac_, 154
_Description of Lake Erie_, 166
_Description of the River and Falls of Niagara_, 169
_Description of Lake Ontario_, 170
_Description of the Oniada Lake, Lake Champlain, and Lake
George_, 172
_Account of a Tract of Land granted to Sir Ferdinando Gorges,
and Captain John Mason_, 173
_The Author’s Motives for undertaking his Travels_, 177
CHAP. I.
_The Origin of the Indians_, 181
_Sentiments of various Writers on this Point_, 182
_Sentiments of Monsieur Charlevoix_, 192
_Sentiments of James Adair, Esq_; 202
_Sentiments of the Author of this Work_, 208
_Corroboration of the latter by Doctor Robertson_ 216
CHAP. II.
_Of the Persons, Dress, &c. of the Indians_, 219
_An Account of those who have written on this Subject_, 220
_Description of the Persons of the Indians_, 223
_Description of their Dress_, 225
_Description of the Dress of the Ottagaumies, with a Plate_, 229
_Description of the Dress of the Naudowessies, with Ditto_, 230
_The Manner in which they build their Tents and Huts_, 231
_Their domestic Utensils_, 233
CHAP. III.
_Of the Manners, Qualifications, &c. of the Indians_, 235
_Peculiar Customs of the Women_, 236
_The circumspect and stoical Disposition of the Men_, 237
_Their amazing Sagacity_, 241
_Remarkable Story of one of the Naudowessie Women_, 245
_The Liberality of the Indians, and their Opinion respecting
Money_, 247
CHAP. IV.
_Their Method of reckoning Time, &c._ 250
_The Names by which they distinguish the Months_, 251
_Their Idea of the Use of Figures_, 253
CHAP. V.
_Of their Government, &c._ 255
_Their Division into Tribes_, ib.
_The Chiefs of their Bands_, 257
_The Members that compose their Councils_, 259
CHAP. VI.
_Of their Feasts_, 262
_Their usual Food_, 263
_Their Manner of dressing and eating their Victuals_, 264
CHAP. VII.
_Of their Dances_, 266
_The Manner in which they dance_, 267
_The Pipe or Calumate Dance_, 268
_The War Dance_, 269
_The Pawwaw Dance_, 270
_An uncommon Admission into a Society, among the
Naudowessies_, 272
_The Dance of the Indians on the Banks of the Mississippi,
referred to in the Journal_, 279
_The Dance of the Sacrifice_, 282
CHAP. VIII.
_Of their Hunting_, 283
_Their Preparation before they set out_, 285
_Their Manner of hunting the Bear_, 286
_Their Manner of hunting the Buffalo, Deer, &c._ 287
_Their Manner of hunting the Beaver_, 289
CHAP. IX.
_Of their Manner of making War, &c._ 293
_The Indian Weapons, with a Plate_, 296
_Their Motives of making War_, 297
_Preparations before they take the Field_, 301
_The Manner in which they solicit other Nations to become
their Auxiliaries_, 305
_Their Manner of declaring War_, 307
_Their Method of engaging their Enemies_, 310
_An Instance of the Efficacy of it in the Defeat of General
Braddock_, 311
_A Detail of the Massacre at Fort William-Henry in the Year
1757_, 313
_Acuteness and Alacrity of the Indians in pursuing their
Enemies_, 327
_Their Manner of Scalping_, 328
_The Manner in which they retreat and carry off their
Prisoners_, 330
_A remarkable Instance of Heroism in a Female Prisoner_, 332
_Treatment of their Prisoners_, 335
_The Origin of their selling Slaves_, 346
CHAP. X.
_Of their Manner of making Peace, &c._ 351
_Account of an Engagement between the Iroquois and the
Ottagaumies and Saukies_, 352
_Manner in which they conduct a Treaty of Peace_, 358
_Description of the Pipe of Peace_, 359
_Description of the Belts of Wampum_, 362
CHAP. XI.
_Of their Games_, 363
_The Game of the Ball_, 364
_The Game of the Bowl or Platter_, 365
CHAP. XII.
_Of their Marriage Ceremonies_, 367
_The Manner in which the Tribes near Canada celebrate their
Marriages_, 369
_The Form of Marriage among the Naudowessies_, 373
_Their Manner of carrying on an Intrigue_, 375
_Of the Indian Names_, 378
CHAP. XIII.
_Of their Religion_, 380
_Their Ideas of a Supreme Being_, 381
_Their Ideas of a future State_, 383
_Of their Priests_, 384
_The Sentiments of Others on the religious Principles of the
Indians opposed_, 386
CHAP. XIV.
_Of their Diseases, &c._ 389
_The Complaints to which they are chiefly subject_, ib.
_The Manner in which they construct their Sweating Stoves_, 390
_The Methods in which they treat their Diseases_, 391
_An extraordinary Instance of the Judgment of an Indian Woman
in a desperate Case_, 395
CHAP. XV.
_The Manner in which they treat their Dead_, 398
_A Specimen of their Funeral Harangues_, 399
_Their Method of burying the Dead_, 401
_A singular Instance of parental Affection in a Naudowessie
Woman_, 403
CHAP. XVI.
_A concise Character of the Indians_, 408
_Their personal and mental Qualifications_, 409
_Their public Character as Members of a Community_, 411
CHAP. XVII.
_Of their Language, Hieroglyphicks, &c._ 414
_Of the Chipéway Tongue_, 416
_Descriptive Specimen of their Hieroglyphicks_, 417
_Vocabulary of the Chipéway Language_, 420
_Vocabulary of the Naudowessie Language_, 433
CHAP. XVIII.
_Of the Beasts, Birds, Fishes, Reptiles, and Insects, which
are found in the Interior Parts of North America_, 441
_BEASTS._
_The Tyger. The Bear_, 442
_The Wolf. The Fox_, 444
_Dogs. The Cat of the Mountain. The Buffalo_, 445
_The Deer_, 446
_The Elk_, 447
_The Moose_, 448
_The Carrabou_, 449
_The Carcajou. The Skunk_, 450
_The Porcupine_, 453
_The Woodchuck. The Racoon_, 454
_The Martin. The Musquash_, 455
_Squirrels_, 456
_The Beaver_, 457
_The Otter_, 464
_The Mink_, 465
_BIRDS._
_The Eagle. The Night Hawk_, 466
_The Fish Hawk_, 467
_The Whipperwill_, 468
_The Owl. The Crane. Ducks_, 469
_The Teal. The Loon_, 470
_The Partridge. The Woodpecker. The Wood Pigeon_, 471
_The Blue Jay. The Wakon Bird_, 472
_The Blackbird_, 473
_The Redbird_, 474
_The Whetsaw. The King Bird. The Humming Bird_, 475
_FISHES._
_The Sturgeon_, 477
_The Cat Fish. The Carp. The Chub_, 478
_SERPENTS._
_The Rattle Snake_, 479
_The Long Black Snake_, 485
_The Striped or Garter Snake. The Water Snake. The Hissing
Snake. The Green Snake. The Thorn-tail Snake_, 486
_The Speckled Snake. The Ring Snake. The Two-headed Snake_, 487
_The Tortoise or Land Turtle_, 488
_LIZARDS._
_The Swift Lizard. The Slow Lizard. The Tree Toad_, 488, 489
_INSECTS._
_The Silk Worm_, 490
_The Tobacco Worm. The Bee. The Lightning Bug or Fire Fly_, 491
_The Water Bug. The Horned Bug. The Locust_, 493
CHAP. XIX.
_Of the Trees, Shrubs, Roots, Herbs, Flowers_, 494
_TREES._
_The Oak_, 495
_The Pine Tree. The Maple_, 496
_The Ash_, 497
_The Hemlock Tree_, 498
_The Bass or White Wood. The Wickopick or Suckwick. The
Button Wood_, 499
_NUT TREES._
_The Butter or Oil Nut_, 500
_The Beech Nut. The Pecan Nut_, 501
_The Hickory_, 502
_FRUIT TREES._
_The Vine. The Mulberry Tree. The Crab Apple Tree. The Plum
Tree_, 503
_The Cherry Tree_, 504
_The Sweet Gum Tree_, 505
_SHRUBS._
_The Willow. Shin Wood_, 506
_The Sassafras. The Prickly Ash_, 507
_The Moose Wood. The Spoon Wood. The Elder_, 508
_The Shrub Oak. The Witch Hazle_, 509
_The Myrtle Wax Tree. Winter Green_, 510
_The Fever Bush. The Cranberry Bush_, 511
_The Choak Berry_, 512
_ROOTS and PLANTS._
_Spikenard. Sarsaparilla_, 513
_Ginsang. Gold Thread_, 514
_Solomon’s Seal. Devil’s Bit_, 515
_Blood Root_, 516
_HERBS._
_Sanicle. Rattle Snake Plantain_, 517
_Poor Robin’s Plantain. Toad Plantain. Rock Liverwort. Gargit
or Skoke_. 518
_Skunk Cabbage or Poke_, 519
_Wake Robin. Wild Indico. Cat Mint_, 520
_FLOWERS_, 521
_FARINACEOUS and LEGUMINOUS ROOTS, &c._
_Maize or Indian Corn_, 522
_Wild Rice_, 523
_Beans. The Squash_, 526
_APPENDIX._
_The Probability of the interior Parts of North America
becoming Commercial Colonies_, 527
_The Means by which this might be effected_, 529
_Tracts of Land pointed out, on which Colonies may be
established with the greatest Advantage_, 531
_Dissertation on the Discovery of a North-west Passage_, 539
_The most certain Way of attaining it_, 540
_Plan proposed by Richard Whitworth, Esq. for making an
Attempt from a Quarter hitherto unexplored_, 441
_The Reason of its being postponed_, 543
[Illustration:
A
_NEW MAP_
of
NORTH
AMERICA
_From the
Latest Discoveries_
1778
_Engrav’d for Carver’s_
Travels
]
INTRODUCTION.
NO sooner was the late War with France concluded, and Peace established
by the Treaty of Versailles in the Year 1763, than I began to consider
(having rendered my country some services during the war) how I might
continue still serviceable, and contribute, as much as lay in my power,
to make that vast acquisition of territory, gained by Great Britain, in
North America advantageous to it. It appeared to me indispensably
needful, that Government should be acquainted in the first place with
the true state of the dominions they were now become possessed of. To
this purpose, I determined, as the next proof of my zeal, to explore the
most unknown parts of them, and to spare no trouble or expence in
acquiring a knowledge that promised to be so useful to my countrymen. I
knew that many obstructions would arise to my scheme from the want of
good Maps and Charts; for the French, whilst they retained their power
in North America, had taken every artful method to keep all other
nations, particularly the English, in ignorance of the concerns of the
interior parts of it: and to accomplish this design with the greater
certainty, they had published inaccurate maps and false accounts;
calling the different nations of the Indians by nicknames they had given
them, and not by those really appertaining to them. Whether the
intention of the French in doing this, was to prevent these nations from
being discovered and traded with, or to conceal their discourse, when
they talked to each other of the Indian concerns, in their presence, I
will not determine; but whatsoever was the cause from which it arose, it
tended to mislead.
As a proof that the English had been greatly deceived by these accounts,
and that their knowledge relative to Canada had usually been very
confined, before the conquest of Crown-Point in 1759, it had been
esteemed an impregnable fortress: but no sooner was it taken, than we
were convinced that it had acquired its greatest security from false
reports, given out by its possessors, and might have been battered down
with a few four pounders. Even its situation, which was represented to
be so very advantageous, was found to owe its advantages to the same
source. It cannot be denied but that some maps of these countries have
been published by the French with an appearance of accuracy; but these
are of so small a size and drawn on so minute a scale, that they are
nearly inexplicable. The sources of the Mississippi, I can assert from
my own experience, are greatly misplaced; for when I had explored them,
and compared their situation with the French Charts, I found them very
erroneously represented, and am satisfied that these were only copied
from the rude sketches of the Indians.
Even so lately as their evacuation of Canada they continued their
schemes to deceive; leaving no traces by which any knowledge might
accrue to their conquerors: for though they were well acquainted with
all the Lakes, particularly with Lake Superior, having constantly a
vessel of considerable burthen thereon, yet their plans of them are very
incorrect. I discovered many errors in the descriptions given therein of
its Islands and Bays, during a progress of eleven hundred miles that I
coasted it in canoes. They likewise, on giving up the possession of
them, took care to leave the places they had occupied in the same
uncultivated state they had found them; at the same time destroying all
their naval force. I observed myself part of the hulk of a very large
vessel, burnt to the water’s edge, just at the opening from the Straits
of St. Marie’s into the Lake.
These difficulties, however, were not sufficient to deter me from the
undertaking, and I made preparations for setting out. What I chiefly had
in view, after gaining a knowledge of the Manners, Customs, Languages,
Soil, and natural Productions of the different nations that inhabit the
back of the Mississippi, was to ascertain the Breadth of that vast
continent, which extends from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean, in its
broadest part between 43 and 46 Degrees Northern Latitude. Had I been
able to accomplish this, I intended to have proposed to Government to
establish a Post in some of those parts about the Straits of Annian,
which having been first discovered by Sir Francis Drake, of course
belong to the English. This I am convinced would greatly facilitate the
discovery of a North-west Passage, or a communication between Hudson’s
Bay and the Pacific Ocean. An event so desirable, and which has been so
often sought for, but without success. Besides this important end, a
settlement on that extremity of America would answer many good purposes,
and repay every expence the establishment of it might occasion. For it
would not only disclose new sources of trade, and promote many useful
discoveries, but would open a passage for conveying intelligence to
China, and the English settlements in the East Indies, with greater
expedition than a tedious voyage by the Cape of Good Hope, or the
Straits of Magellan will allow of.
How far the advantages arising from such an enterprize may extend can
only be ascertained by the favourable concurrence of future events. But
that the completion of the scheme, I have had the honour of first
planning and attempting, will some time or other be effected, I make no
doubt. From the unhappy divisions that at present subsist between Great
Britain and America, it will probably be some years before the attempt
is repeated; but whenever it is, and the execution of it carried on with
propriety, those who are so fortunate as to succeed, will reap,
exclusive of the national advantages that must ensue, Emoluments beyond
their most sanguine expectations. And whilst their spirits are elated by
their success, perhaps they may bestow some commendations and blessings
on the person that first pointed out to them the way. These, though but
a shadowy recompence for all my toil, I shall receive with pleasure.
To what power or authority this new world will become dependent, after
it has arisen from its present uncultivated state, time alone can
discover. But as the seat of Empire from time immemorial has been
gradually progressive towards the West, there is no doubt but that at
some future period, mighty kingdoms will emerge from these wildernesses,
and stately palaces and solemn temples, with gilded spires reaching the
skies, supplant the Indian huts, whose only decorations are the
barbarous trophies of their vanquished enemies.
As some of the preceding passages have already informed the Reader that
the plan I had laid down for penetrating to the Pacific Ocean, proved
abortive, it is necessary to add, that this proceeded not from its
impracticability (for the farther I went the more convinced I was that
it could certainly be accomplished) but from unforeseen disappointments.
However, I proceeded so far, that I was able to make such discoveries as
will be useful in any future attempt, and prove a good foundation for
some more fortunate Successor to build upon. These I shall now lay
before the Public in the following pages; and am satisfied that the
greatest part of them have never been published by any person that has
hitherto treated of the interior Nations of the Indians; particularly,
the account I give of the Naudowessies, and the situation of the Heads
of the four great rivers that take their rise within a few leagues of
each other, nearly about the center of this great continent; viz. The
River Bourbon, which empties itself into Hudson’s Bay; the Waters of
Saint Lawrence; the Mississippi, and the River Oregon, or the River of
the West, that falls into the Pacific Ocean at the Straits of Annian.
The impediments that occasioned my returning, before I had accomplished
my purposes, were these. On my arrival at Michillimackinac, the remotest
English post, in September 1766, I applied to Mr. Rogers, who was then
governor of it, to furnish me with a proper assortment of goods, as
presents for the Indians who inhabit the track I intended to pursue. He
did this only in part; but promised to supply me with such as were
necessary, when I reached the Falls of Saint Anthony. I afterwards
learned that the governor fulfilled his promise in ordering the goods to
be delivered to me; but those to whose care he intrusted them, instead
of conforming to his orders, disposed of them elsewhere.
Disappointed in my expectations from this quarter, I thought it
necessary to return to La Prairié Le Chien; for it was impossible to
proceed any farther without presents to ensure me a favorable reception.
This I did in the beginning of the year 1767, and finding my progress to
the Westward thus retarded, I determined to direct my course Northward.
I took this step with a view of finding a communication from the Heads
of the Mississippi into Lake Superior, in order to meet, at the grand
Portage on the North-west side of that lake, the traders that usually
come, about this season, from Michillimackinac. Of these I intended to
purchase goods, and then to pursue my journey from that quarter by way
of the lakes de Pluye, Dubois, and Ounipique to the Heads of the river
of the West, which, as I have said before, falls into the Straits of
Annian, the termination of my intended progress.
I accomplished the former part of my design, and reached Lake Superior
in proper time; but unluckily the traders I met there acquainted me,
that they had no goods to spare; those they had with them being barely
sufficient to answer their own demands in these remote parts. Thus
disappointed a second time, I found myself obliged to return to the
place from whence I began my expedition, which I did after continuing
some months on the North and East borders of Lake Superior, and
exploring the Bays and Rivers that empty themselves into this large body
of water.
As it may be expected that I should lay before the Public the reasons
that these discoveries, of so much importance to every one who has any
connections with America, have not been imparted to them before,
notwithstanding they were made upwards of ten years ago, I will give
them to the world in a plain and candid manner, and without mingling
with them any complaints on account of the ill treatment I have
received.
On my arrival in England, I presented a petition to his Majesty in
council, praying for a reimbursement of those sums I had expended in the
service of government. This was referred to the Lords Commissioners of
Trade and Plantations. Their Lordships from the tenor of it thought the
intelligence I could give of so much importance to the nation that they
ordered me to appear before the Board. This message I obeyed, and
underwent a long examination; much I believe to the satisfaction of
every Lord present. When it was finished, I requested to know what I
should do with my papers; without hesitation the first Lord replied,
That I might publish them whenever I pleased. In consequence of this
permission, I disposed of them to a bookseller: but when they were
nearly ready for the press, an order was issued from the council board,
requiring me to deliver, without delay, into the Plantation Office, all
my Charts and Journals, with every paper relative to the discoveries I
had made. In order to obey this command, I was obliged to re-purchase
them from the bookseller, at a very great expence, and deliver them up.
This fresh disbursement I endeavoured to get annexed to the account I
had already delivered in; but the request was denied me, notwithstanding
I had only acted, in the disposal of my papers, conformably to the
permission I had received from the Board of Trade. This loss, which
amounted to a very considerable sum, I was obliged to bear, and to rest
satisfied with an indemnification for my other expences.
Thus situated, my only expectations are from the favour of a generous
Public; to whom I shall now communicate my Plans, Journals, and
Observations, of which I luckily kept copies, when I delivered the
originals into the Plantation Office. And this I do the more readily, as
I hear they are mislaid; and there is no probability of their ever being
published. To those who are interested in the concerns of the interior
parts of North America, from the contiguity of their possessions, or
commercial engagements, they will be extremely useful, and fully repay
the sum at which they are purchased. To those, who, from a laudable
curiosity, wish to be acquainted with the manners and customs of every
inhabitant of this globe, the accounts here given of the various nations
that inhabit so vast a track of it, a country hitherto almost
unexplored, will furnish an ample fund of amusement and gratify their
most curious expectations. And I flatter myself they will be as
favourably received by the Public, as descriptions of islands, which
afford no other entertainment than what arises from their novelty; and
discoveries, that seem to promise very few advantages to this country,
though acquired at an immense expence.
To make the following Work as comprehensible and entertaining as
possible, I shall first give my Readers an account of the route I
pursued over this immense continent (through which they will be able to
attend me by referring to the plan prefixed) and as I pass on, describe
the number of Inhabitants, the situation of the Rivers and Lakes, and
the productions of the country. Having done this, I shall treat, in
distinct Chapters, of the Manners, Customs, and Languages of the
Indians, and to complete the whole, add a Vocabulary of the Words mostly
in use among them.
And here it is necessary to bespeak the candour of the learned part of
my Readers in the perusal of it, as it is the production of a person
unused, from opposite avocations, to literary pursuits. He therefore
begs they would not examine it with too critical an eye; especially when
he assures them that his attention has been more employed on giving a
just description of a country that promises, in some future period, to
be an inexhaustible source of riches to that people who shall be so
fortunate as to possess it, than on the style or composition; and more
careful to render his language intelligible and explicit, than smooth
and florid.
[Illustration: _A PLAN of Captain Carver’s Travels in the interior Parts
of NORTH AMERICA in 1766 and 1767_.]
A
JOURNAL OF THE TRAVELS,
WITH A
DESCRIPTION
OF THE
COUNTRY, LAKES, &c.
IN June 1766, I set out from Boston, and proceeded by way of Albany and
Niagara, to Michillimackinac; a Fort situated between the Lakes Huron
and Michigan, and distant from Boston 1300 miles. This being the
uttermost of our factories towards the north-west, I considered it as
the most convenient place from whence I could begin my intended
progress, and enter at once into the Regions I designed to explore.
Referring my Readers to the publications already extant for an Account
of those Parts of North America, that, from lying adjacent to the
Back-Settlements, have been frequently described, I shall confine myself
to a Description of the more interior parts of it, which having been but
seldom visited, are consequently but little known. In doing this, I
shall in no instance exceed the bounds of truth, or have recourse to
those useless and extravagant exaggerations too often made use of by
travellers, to excite the curiosity of the public, or to increase their
own importance. Nor shall I insert any observations, but such as I have
made myself, or, from the credibility of those by whom they were
related, am enabled to vouch for their authenticity.
Michillimackinac, from whence I began my travels, is a Fort composed of
a strong stockade, and is usually defended by a garrison of one hundred
men. It contains about thirty houses, one of which belongs to the
governor, and another to the commissary. Several traders also dwell
within its fortifications, who find it a convenient situation to traffic
with the neighbouring nations. Michillimackinac, in the language of the
Chipéway Indians, signifies a Tortoise; and the place is supposed to
receive its name from an Island, lying about six or seven miles to the
north-east, within light of the Fort, which has the appearance of that
animal.
During the Indian war that followed soon after the Conquest of Canada in
the year 1763, and which was carried on by an army of confederate
nations composed of the Hurons, Miamies, Chipéways, Ottowaws,
Pontowattimies, Mississauges, and some other tribes, under the direction
of Pontiac, a celebrated Indian warrior, who had always been in the
French interest, it was taken by surprize in the following manner: The
Indians having settled their plan, drew near the Fort, and began a game
at Ball, a pastime much used among them, and not unlike tennis. In the
height of their game, at which some of the English officers, not
suspecting any deceit, stood looking on, they struck the ball, as if by
accident, over the stockade; this they repeated two or three times, to
make the deception more complete; till at length, having by this means
lulled every suspicion of the centry at the south gate, a party rushed
by him; and the rest soon following, they took possession of the Fort,
without meeting with any opposition. Having accomplished their design,
the Indians had the humanity to spare the lives of the greatest part of
the garrison and traders, but they made them all prisoners, and carried
them off. However some time after they took them to Montreal, where they
were redeemed at a good price. The Fort also was given up again to the
English at the peace made with Pontiac by the commander of Detroit the
year following.
Having here made the necessary dispositions for pursuing my travels, and
obtained a credit from Mr. Rogers, the governor, on some English and
Canadian traders who were going to trade on the Mississippi, and
received also from him a promise of a fresh supply of goods when I
reached the Falls of Saint Anthony, I left the Fort on the 3d of
September, in company with these traders. It was agreed, that they
should furnish me with such goods as I might want, for presents to the
Indian chiefs, during my continuance with them, agreeable to the
governor’s order. But when I arrived at the extent of their route, I was
to find other guides, and to depend on the goods the governor had
promised to supply me with.
We accordingly set out together, and on the 18th arrived at Fort La Bay.
This Fort is situated on the southern extremity of a Bay in Lake
Michigan, termed by the French the Bay of Puants; but which, since the
English have gained possession of all the settlements on this part of
the Continent, is called by them the Green Bay. The reason of its being
thus denominated, is from its appearance; for on leaving
Michillimackinac in the spring season, though the trees there have not
even put forth their buds, yet you find the country around La Bay,
notwithstanding the passage has not exceeded fourteen days, covered with
the finest verdure, and vegetation as forward as it could be were it
summer.
This Fort, also, is only surrounded by a stockade, and being much
decayed is scarcely defensible against small arms. It was built by the
French for the protection of their trade, some time before they were
forced to relinquish it; and when Canada and its dependencies were
surrendered to the English, it was immediately garrisoned with an
officer and thirty men. These were made prisoners by the Menomonies soon
after the surprise of Michillimackinac, and the Fort has neither been
garrisoned or kept in repair since.
The Bay is about ninety miles long, but differs much in its breadth;
being in some places only fifteen miles, in others from twenty to
thirty. It lies nearly from north-east to south-west. At the entrance of
it from the Lake are a string of islands, extending from north to south,
called the Grand Traverse. These are about thirty miles in length, and
serve to facilitate the passage of canoes, as they shelter them from the
winds, which sometimes come with violence across the Lake. On the side
that lies to the south-east is the nearest and best navigation.
The islands of the Grand Traverse are mostly small and rocky. Many of
the rocks are of an amazing size, and appear as if they had been
fashioned by the hands of artists. On the largest and best of these
islands stands a town of the Ottowaws, at which I found one of the most
considerable chiefs of that nation, who received me with every honour he
could possibly show to a stranger. But what appeared extremely singular
to me at the time, and must do so to every person unacquainted with the
customs of the Indians, was the reception I met with on landing. As our
canoes approached the shore, and had reached within about threescore
rods of it, the Indians began a feu-de-joy; in which they fired their
pieces loaded with balls; but at the same time they took care to
discharge them in such a manner, as to fly a few yards above our heads:
during this they ran from one tree or stump to another, shouting and
behaving as if they were in the heat of battle. At first I was greatly
surprised, and was on the point of ordering my attendants to return
their fire, concluding that their intentions were hostile; but being
undeceived by some of the traders, who informed me that this was their
usual method of receiving the chiefs of other nations, I considered it
in its true light, and was pleased with the respect thus paid me.
I remained here one night. Among the presents I made the chiefs, were
some spirituous liquors; with which they made themselves merry, and all
joined in a dance, that lasted the greatest part of the night. In the
morning when I departed, the chief attended me to the shore, and, as
soon as I had embarked, offered up, in an audible voice, and with great
solemnity, a fervent prayer in my behalf. He prayed “that the Great
Spirit would favour me with a prosperous voyage; that he would give me
an unclouded sky, and smooth waters, by day, and that I might lie down,
by night, on a beaver blanket, enjoying uninterrupted sleep, and
pleasant dreams; and also that I might find continual protection under
the great pipe of peace.” In this manner he continued his petitions till
I could no longer hear them.
I must here observe, that notwithstanding the inhabitants of Europe are
apt to entertain horrid ideas of the ferocity of these savages, as they
are termed, I received from every tribe of them in the interior parts,
the most hospitable and courteous treatment; and am convinced, that till
they are contaminated by the example and spirituous liquors of their
more refined neighbours, they retain this friendly and inoffensive
conduct towards strangers. Their inveteracy and cruelty to their enemies
I acknowledge to be a great abatement of the favourable opinion I would
wish to entertain of them; but this failing is hereditary, and having
received the sanction of immemorial custom, has taken too deep root in
their minds to be ever extirpated.
Among this people I eat of a very uncommon kind of bread. The Indians,
in general, use but little of this nutritious food: whilst their corn is
in the milk, as they term it, that is, just before it begins to ripen,
they slice off the kernels from the cob to which they grow, and knead
them into a paste. This they are enabled to do without the addition of
any liquid, by the milk that flows from them; and when it is effected,
they parcel it out into cakes, and inclosing them in leaves of the
basswood tree, place them in hot embers, where they are soon baked. And
better flavoured bread I never eat in any country.
This place is only a small village containing about twenty-five houses
and sixty or seventy warriors. I found nothing there worthy of further
remark.
The land on the south-east side of the Green Bay is but very
indifferent, being overspread with a heavy growth of hemlock, pine,
spruce and fir trees. The communication between Lake Michigan and the
Green Bay has been reported by some to be impracticable for the passage
of any vessels larger than canoes or boats, on account of the shoals
that lie between the islands in the Grand Traverse; but on sounding it I
found sufficient depth for a vessel of sixty tons, and the breadth
proportionable.
The land adjoining to the bottom of this Bay is very fertile, the
country in general level, and the perspective view of it pleasing and
extensive.
A few families live in the Fort, which lies on the west-side of the Fox
River, and opposite to it, on the east side of its entrance, are some
French settlers who cultivate the land, and appear to live very
comfortably.
The Green Bay or Bay of Puants is one of those places to which the
French, as I have mentioned in the Introduction, have given nicknames.
It is termed by the inhabitants of its coasts, the Menomonie Bay; but
why the French have denominated it the Puant or Stinking Bay I know not.
The reason they themselves give for it is, that it was not with a view
to mislead strangers, but that by adopting this method they could
converse with each other, concerning the Indians, in their presence,
without being understood by them. For it was remarked by the persons who
first traded among them, that when they were speaking to each other
about them, and mentioned their proper name, they instantly grew
suspicious, and concluded that their visiters were either speaking ill
of them, or plotting their destruction. To remedy this they gave them
some other name. The only bad consequence arising from the practice then
introduced is, that English and French geographers, in their plans of
the interior parts of America, give different names to the same people,
and thereby perplex those who have occasion to refer to them.
Lake Michigan, of which the Green Bay is a part, is divided on the
north-east from Lake Huron by the Straits of Michillimackinac; and is
situated between forty-two and forty-six degrees of latitude, and
between eighty-four and eighty-seven degrees of west longitude. Its
greatest length is two hundred and eighty miles, its breadth about
forty, and its circumference nearly six hundred. There is a remarkable
string of small islands beginning over against Atkin’s Farm, and running
about thirty miles south-west into the Lake. These are called the Beaver
Islands. Their situation is very pleasant, but the soil is bare. However
they afford a beautiful prospect.
On the north-west parts of this Lake the waters branch out into two
bays. That which lies towards the north is the Bay of Noquets, and the
other the Green Bay just described.
The waters of this as well as the other great Lakes are clear and
wholesome, and of sufficient depth for the navigation of large ships.
Half the space of the country that lies to the east, and extends to Lake
Huron, belongs to the Ottowaw Indians. The line that divides their
territories from the Chipéways, runs nearly north and south, and reaches
almost from the southern extremity of this Lake, across the high lands,
to Michillimackinac, through the center of which it passes. So that when
these two tribes happen to meet at the factory, they each encamp on
their own dominions, at a few yards distance from the stockade.
The country adjacent either to the east or west side of this lake is
composed but of an indifferent soil, except where small brooks or rivers
empty themselves into it; on the banks of these it is extremely fertile.
Near the borders of the Lake grow a great number of sand cherries, which
are not less remarkable for their manner of growth, than for their
exquisite flavour. They grow upon a small shrub not more than four feet
high, the boughs of which are so loaded that they lie in clusters on the
sand. As they grow only on the sand, the warmth of which probably
contributes to bring them to such perfection, they are called by the
French, cherries de sable, or sand cherries. The size of them does not
exceed that of a small musket ball, but they are reckoned superior to
any other sort for the purpose of steeping in spirits. There also grow
around the Lake gooseberries, black currants, and an abundance of
juniper, bearing great quantities of berries of the finest sort.
Sumack likewise grows here in great plenty; the leaf of which, gathered
at Michaelmas when it turns red, is much esteemed by the natives. They
mix about an equal quantity of it with their tobacco, which causes it to
smoke pleasantly. Near this Lake, and indeed about all the great lakes,
is found a kind of willow, termed by the French, bois rouge, in English
red wood. Its bark, when only of one year’s growth, is of a fine scarlet
colour, and appears very beautiful; but as it grows older, it changes
into a mixture of grey and red. The stalks of this shrub grow many of
them together, and rise to the height of six or eight feet, the largest
not exceeding an inch diameter. The bark being scraped from the sticks,
and dried and powdered, is also mixed by the Indians with their tobacco,
and is held by them in the highest estimation for their winter smoaking.
A weed that grows near the great lakes, in rocky places, they use in the
summer season. It is called by the Indians, Segockimac, and creeps like
a vine on the ground, sometimes extending to eight or ten feet, and
bearing a leaf about the size of a silver penny, nearly round; it is of
the substance and colour of the laurel, and is, like the tree it
resembles, an evergreen. These leaves, dried and powdered, they likewise
mix with their tobacco; and, as said before, smoak it only during the
summer. By these three succedaneums the pipes of the Indians are well
supplied through every season of the year; and as they are great
smoakers, they are very careful in properly gathering and preparing
them.
On the 20th of September I left the Green Bay, and proceeded up Fox
River, still in company with the traders and some Indians. On the 25th I
arrived at the great town of the Winnebagoes, situated on a small island
just as you enter the east end of Lake Winnebago. Here the queen who
presided over this tribe instead of a Sachem, received me with great
civility, and entertained me in a very distinguished manner, during the
four days I continued with her.
The day after my arrival I held a council with the chiefs, of whom I
asked permission to pass through their country, in my way to more remote
nations on business of importance. This was readily granted me, the
request being esteemed by them as a great compliment paid to their
tribe. The Queen sat in the council, but only asked a few questions, or
gave some trifling directions in matters relative to the state; for
women are never allowed to sit in their councils, except they happen to
be invested with the supreme authority, and then it is not customary for
them to make any formal speeches as the chiefs do. She was a very
ancient woman, small in stature, and not much distinguished by her dress
from several young women that attended her. These her attendants seemed
greatly pleased whenever I showed any tokens of respect to their queen,
particularly when I saluted her, which I frequently did to acquire her
favour. On these occasions the good old lady endeavoured to assume a
juvenile gaiety, and by her smiles showed she was equally pleased with
the attention I paid her.
The time I tarried here, I employed in making the best observations
possible on the country, and in collecting the most certain intelligence
I could of the origin, language, and customs of this people. From these
enquiries I have reason to conclude, that the Winnebagoes originally
resided in some of the provinces belonging to New Mexico; and being
driven from their native country, either by intestine divisions, or by
the extension of the Spanish conquests, they took refuge in these more
northern parts about a century ago.
My reasons for adopting this supposition, are, first from their
unalienable attachment to the Naudowessie Indians (who, they say, gave
them the earliest succour during their emigration) notwithstanding their
present residence is more than six hundred miles distant from that
people.
Secondly, that their dialect totally differs from every other Indian
nation yet discovered; it being a very uncouth guttural jargon, which
none of their neighbours will attempt to learn. They converse with other
nations in the Chipéway tongue, which is the prevailing language
throughout all the tribes, from the Mohawks of Canada to those who
inhabit the borders of the Mississippi, and from the Hurons and Illinois
to such as dwell near Hudson’s Bay.
Thirdly, from their inveterate hatred to the Spaniards. Some of them
informed me that they had made many excursions to the south-west, which
took up several moons. An elderly chief more particularly acquainted me,
that about forty-six winters ago, he marched, at the head of fifty
warriors, towards the south-west, for three moons. That during this
expedition, whilst they were crossing a plain, they discovered a body of
men on horseback, who belonged to the Black People; for so they call the
Spaniards. As soon as they perceived them, they proceeded with caution,
and concealed themselves till night came on; when they drew so near as
to be able to discern the number and situation of their enemies. Finding
they were not able to cope with so great a superiority by day-light,
they waited till they had retired to rest; when they rushed upon them,
and, after having killed the greatest part of the men, took eighty
horses loaded with what they termed white stone. This I suppose to have
been silver, as he told me the horses were shod with it, and that their
bridles were ornamented with the same. When they had satiated their
revenge, they carried off their spoil, and being got so far as to be out
of the reach of the Spaniards that had escaped their fury, they left the
useless and ponderous burthen, with which the horses were loaded, in the
woods, and mounting themselves, in this manner returned to their
friends. The party they had thus defeated, I conclude to be the caravan
that annually conveys to Mexico, the silver which the Spaniards find in
great quantities on the mountains lying near the heads of the Coloredo
River: and the plains where the attack was made, probably, some they
were obliged to pass over in their way to the heads of the River St.
Fee, or Rio del Nord, which falls into the Gulph of Mexico to the west
of the Mississippi.
The Winnebagoes can raise about two hundred warriors. Their town
contains about fifty houses, which are strongly built with palisades,
and the island on which it is situated nearly fifty acres. It lies
thirty-five miles, reckoning according to the course of the river, from
the Green Bay.
The River, for about four or five miles from the Bay, has a gentle
current; after that space, till you arrive at the Winnebago Lake, it is
full of rocks and very rapid. At many places we were obliged to land our
canoes, and carry them a considerable way. Its breadth, in general, from
the Green Bay to the Winnebago Lake, is between seventy and a hundred
yards: the land on its borders very good, and thinly wooded with
hickery, oak, and hazel.
The Winnebago Lake is about fifteen miles long from east to west, and
six miles wide. At its south-east corner, a river falls into it that
takes its rise near some of the northern branches of the Illinois River.
This I called the Crocodile River, in consequence of a story that
prevails among the Indians, of their having destroyed, in some part of
it, an animal, which from their description must be a crocodile or an
alligator.
The land adjacent to the Lake is very fertile, abounding with grapes,
plums, and other fruits, which grow spontaneously. The Winnebagoes raise
on it a great quantity of Indian corn, beans, pumpkins, squash, and
water melons, with some tobacco. The Lake itself abounds with fish, and
in the fall of the year, with geese, ducks, and teal. The latter, which
resort to it in great numbers, are remarkably good and extremely fat,
and are much better flavoured than those that are found near the sea, as
they acquire their excessive fatness by feeding on the wild rice, which
grow so plentifully in these parts.
Having made some acceptable presents to the good old queen, and received
her blessing, I left the town of the Winnebagoes on the 29th of
September, and about twelve miles from it arrived at the place where the
Fox River enters the Lake on the north side of it. We proceeded up this
river, and on the 7th of October reached the great Carrying Place, which
divides it from the Ouisconsin.
The Fox River, from the Green Bay to the Carrying Place, is about one
hundred and eighty miles. From the Winnebago Lake to the Carrying Place
the current is gentle, and the depth of it considerable; notwithstanding
which, in some places it is with difficulty that canoes can pass,
through the obstructions they meet with from the rice stalks, which are
very large and thick, and grow here in great abundance. The country
around it is very fertile and proper in the highest degree for
cultivation, excepting in some places near the River, where it is rather
too low. It is in no part very woody, and yet can supply sufficient to
answer the demands of any number of inhabitants. This river is the
greatest resort for wild fowl of every kind that I met with in the whole
course of my travels; frequently the sun would be obscured by them for
some minutes together.
About forty miles up this river, from the great town of the Winnebagoes,
stands a smaller town belonging to that nation.
Deer and bears are very numerous in these parts, and a great many
beavers and other furs are taken on the streams that empty themselves
into this river.
The River I am treating of, is remarkable for having been, about eighty
years ago, the residence of the united bands of the Ottigaumies and the
Saukies, whom the French had nicknamed, according to their wonted
custom, Des Sacs and Des Reynards, the Sacks and the Foxes, of whom the
following anecdote was related to me by an Indian.
About sixty years ago, the French missionaries and traders having
received many insults from these people, a party of French and Indians
under the command of Captain Morand marched to revenge their wrongs. The
captain set out from the Green Bay in the winter, when they were
unsuspicious of a visit of this kind, and pursuing his route over the
snow to their villages, which lay about fifty miles up the Fox River,
came upon them by surprize. Unprepared as they were, he found them an
easy conquest, and consequently killed or took prisoners the greatest
part of them. On the return of the French to the Green Bay, one of the
Indian chiefs in alliance with them, who had a considerable band of the
prisoners under his care, stopped to drink at a brook; in the mean time
his companions went on: which being observed by one of the women whom
they had made captive, she suddenly seized him with both her hands,
whilst he stooped to drink, by an exquisitely susceptible part, and held
him fast till he expired on the spot. As the chief, from the extreme
torture he suffered, was unable to call out to his friends, or to give
any alarm, they passed on without knowing what had happened; and the
woman having cut the bands of those of her fellow prisoners who were in
the rear, with them made her escape. This heroine was ever after treated
by her nation as their deliverer, and made a chiefess in her own right,
with liberty to entail the same honour on her descendants: an unusual
distinction, and permitted only on extraordinary occasions.
About twelve miles before I reached the Carrying Place, I observed
several small mountains which extended quite to it. These indeed would
only be esteemed as molehills when compared with those on the back of
the colonies, but as they were the first I had seen since my leaving
Niagara, a track of nearly eleven hundred miles, I could not leave them
unnoticed.
The Fox River, where it enters the Winnebago Lake, is about fifty yards
wide, but it gradually decreases to the Carrying Place, where it is no
more than five yards over, except in a few places where it widens into
small lakes, though still of a considerable depth. I cannot recollect
any thing else that is remarkable in this River, except that it so
serpentines for five miles, as only to gain in that place one quarter of
a mile.
The Carrying Place between the Fox and Ouisconsin Rivers is in breadth
not more than a mile and three quarters, though in some maps it is so
delineated as to appear to be ten miles. And here I cannot help
remarking, that all the maps of these parts, I have ever seen, are very
erroneous. The rivers in general are described as running in different
directions from what they really do; and many branches of them,
particularly of the Mississippi, omitted. The distances of places,
likewise, are greatly misrepresented. Whether this is done by the French
geographers (for the English maps are all copied from theirs) through
design, or for want of a just knowledge of the country, I cannot say;
but I am satisfied that travellers who depend upon them in the parts I
visited, will find themselves much at a loss. Having surveyed with the
greatest care, every country through which I passed, I can assert that
the plan prefixed to this work is drawn with much greater precision than
any extant.
Near one half of the way, between the rivers, is a morass overgrown with
a kind of long grass, the rest of it a plain, with some few oak and pine
trees growing thereon. I observed here a great number of rattle-snakes.
Mons. Pinnisance, a French trader, told me a remarkable story concerning
one of these reptiles, of which he said he was an eye-witness. An
Indian, belonging to the Menomonie nation, having taken one of them,
found means to tame it; and when he had done this, treated it as a
Deity; calling it his Great Father, and carrying it with him in a box
wherever he went. This the Indian had done for several summers, when
Mons. Pinnisance accidentally met with him at this Carrying Place, just
as he was setting off for a winter’s hunt. The French gentleman was
surprized, one day, to see the Indian place the box which contained his
god on the ground, and opening the door give him his liberty; telling
him, whilst he did it, to be sure and return by the time he himself
should come back, which was to be in the month of May following. As this
was but October, Monsieur told the Indian, whose simplicity astonished
him, that he fancied he might wait long enough when May arrived, for the
arrival of his great father. The Indian was so confident of his
creature’s obedience, that he offered to lay the Frenchman a wager of
two gallons of rum, that at the time appointed he would come and crawl
into his box. This was agreed on, and the second week in May following
fixed for the determination of the wager. At that period they both met
there again; when the Indian set down his box, and called for his great
father. The snake heard him not; and the time being now expired, he
acknowledged that he had lost. However, without seeming to be
discouraged, he offered to double the bett if his great father came not
within two days more. This was further agreed on; when behold on the
second day, about one o’clock, the snake arrived, and, of his own
accord, crawled into the box, which was placed ready for him. The French
gentleman vouched for the truth of this story, and from the accounts I
have often received of the docility of those creatures, I see no reason
to doubt his veracity.
I observed that the main body of the Fox River came from the south-west,
that of the Ouisconsin from the north-east; and also that some of the
small branches of these two rivers, in descending into them, doubled,
within a few feet of each other, a little to the south of the Carrying
Place. That two such Rivers should take their rise so near each other,
and after running such different courses, empty themselves into the sea
at a distance so amazing (for the former having passed through several
great lakes, and run upwards of two thousand miles, falls into the Gulf
of St. Lawrence, and the other, after joining the Mississippi, and
having run an equal number of miles, disembogues itself into the Gulph
of Mexico) is an instance scarcely to be met in the extensive continent
of North America. I had an opportunity the year following, of making the
same observations on the affinity of various head branches of the waters
of the St. Lawrence and the Mississippi to each other; and now bring
them as a proof, that the opinion of those geographers, who assert, that
rivers taking their rise so near each other, must spring from the same
source, is erroneous. For I perceived a visibly distinct separation in
all of them, notwithstanding, in some places, they approached so near,
that I could have stepped from one to the other.
On the 8th of October we got our canoes into the Ouisconsin River, which
at this place is more than a hundred yards wide; and the next day
arrived at the Great Town of the Saukies. This is the largest and best
built Indian town I ever saw. It contains about ninety houses, each
large enough for several families. These are built of hewn plank neatly
jointed, and covered with bark so compactly as to keep out the most
penetrating rains. Before the doors are placed comfortable sheds, in
which the inhabitants sit, when the weather will permit, and smoak their
pipes. The streets are regular and spacious; so that it appears more
like a civilized town than the abode of savages. The land near the town
is very good. In their plantations, which lie adjacent to their houses,
and which are neatly laid out, they raise great quantities of Indian
corn, beans, melons, &c. so that this place is esteemed the best market
for traders to furnish themselves with provisions, of any within eight
hundred miles of it.
The Saukies can raise about three hundred warriors, who are generally
employed every summer in making incursions into the territories of the
Illinois and Pawnee nations, from whence they return with a great number
of slaves. But those people frequently retaliate, and, in their turn,
destroy many of the Saukies, which I judge to be the reason that they
increase no faster.
Whilst I staid here, I took a view of some mountains that lie about
fifteen miles to the southward, and abound in lead ore. I ascended one
of the highest of these, and had an extensive view of the country. For
many miles nothing was to be seen but lesser mountains, which appeared
at a distance like haycocks, they being free from trees. Only a few
groves of hickery, and stunted oaks, covered some of the vallies. So
plentiful is lead here, that I saw large quantities of it lying about
the streets in the town belonging to the Saukies, and it seemed to be as
good as the produce of other countries.
On the 10th of October we proceeded down the river, and the next day
reached the first town of the Ottigaumies. This town contained about
fifty houses, but we found most of them deserted, on account of an
epidemical disorder that had lately raged among them, and carried off
more than one half of the inhabitants. The greater part of those who
survived had retired into the woods, to avoid the contagion.
On the 15th we entered that extensive river the Mississippi. The
Ouisconsin, from the Carrying Place to the part where it falls into the
Mississippi, flows with a smooth but a strong current; the water of it
is exceedingly clear, and through it you may perceive a fine and sandy
bottom, tolerably free from rocks. In it are a few islands, the soil of
which appeared to be good, though somewhat woody. The land near the
river also seemed to be, in general, excellent; but that at a distance
is very full of mountains, where it is said there are many lead mines.
About five miles from the junction of the rivers, I observed the ruins
of a large town in a very pleasing situation. On enquiring of the
neighbouring Indians why it was thus deserted, I was informed, that
about thirty years ago, the Great Spirit had appeared on the top of a
pyramid of rocks, which lay at a little distance from it, towards the
west, and warned them to quit their habitations; for the land on which
they were built belonged to him, and he had occasion for it. As a proof
that he, who gave them these orders, was really the Great Spirit, he
further told them, that the grass should immediately spring up on those
very rocks from whence he now addressed them, which they knew to be bare
and barren. The Indians obeyed, and soon after discovered that this
miraculous alteration had taken place. They shewed me the spot, but the
growth of the grass appeared to be no ways supernatural. I apprehend
this to have been a stratagem of the French or Spaniards to answer some
selfish view; but in what manner they effected their purposes I know
not.
This people, soon after their removal, built a town on the bank of the
Mississippi, near the mouth of the Ouisconsin, at a place called by the
French La Prairies les Chiens, which signifies the Dog Plains; it is a
large town, and contains about three hundred families; the houses are
well built after the Indian manner, and pleasantly situated on a very
rich soil, from which they raise every necessary of life in great
abundance. I saw here many horses of a good size and shape. This town is
the great mart, where all the adjacent tribes, and even those who
inhabit the most remote branches of the Mississippi, annually assemble
about the latter end of May, bringing with them their furs to dispose of
to the traders. But it is not always that they conclude their sale here;
this is determined by a general council of the chiefs, who consult
whether it would be more conducive to their interest, to sell their
goods at this place, or carry them on to Louisiana, or Michillimackinac.
According to the decision of this council they either proceed further,
or return to their different homes.
The Mississippi, at the entrance of the Ouisconsin, near which stands a
mountain of considerable height, is about half a mile over; but opposite
to the last mentioned town it appears to be more than a mile wide, and
full of islands, the soil of which is extraordinary rich, and but thinly
wooded.
A little farther to the west, on the contrary side, a small river falls
into the Mississippi, which the French call Le Jaun Riviere, or the
Yellow River. Here the traders who had accompanied me hitherto, took up
their residence for the winter. I then bought a canoe, and with two
servants, one a French Canadian and the other a Mohawk of Canada, on the
19th proceeded up the Mississippi.
About ten days after I had parted from the traders, I landed as I
usually did every evening, and having pitched my tent, I ordered my men,
when night came on, to lay themselves down to sleep. By a light that I
kept burning I then sat down to copy the minutes I had taken in the
course of the preceding day. About ten o’clock, having just finished my
memorandums, I stepped out of my tent to see what weather it was. As I
cast my eyes towards the bank of the river, I thought I saw by the light
of the stars which shone bright, something that had the appearance of a
herd of beasts coming down a descent at some distance; whilst I was
wondering what they could be, one of the number suddenly sprung up and
discovered to me the form of a man. In an instant they were all on their
legs, and I could count about ten or twelve of them running towards me.
I immediately re-entered the tent, and awaking my men, ordered them to
take their arms, and follow me. As my first apprehensions were for my
canoe, I ran to the water’s side, and found a party of Indians (for such
I now discovered them to be) on the point of plundering it. Before I
reached them I commanded my men not to fire till I had given the word,
being unwilling to begin hostilities unless occasion absolutely
required. I accordingly advanced with resolution, close to the points of
their spears, they had no other weapons, and brandishing my hanger,
asked them with a stern voice, what they wanted. They were staggered at
this, and perceiving they were like to meet with a warm reception,
turned about and precipitately retreated. We pursued them to an adjacent
wood, which they entered, and we saw no more of them. However, for fear
of their return, we watched alternately during the remainder of the
night. The next day my servants were under great apprehensions, and
earnestly entreated me to return to the traders we had lately left. But
I told them, that if they would not be esteemed old women (a term of the
greatest reproach among the Indians) they must follow me; for I was
determined to pursue my intended route, as an Englishman, when once
engaged in an adventure, never retreated. On this they got into the
canoe, and I walked on the shore to guard them from any further attack.
The party of Indians who had thus intended to plunder me, I afterwards
found to be some of those straggling bands, that having been driven from
among the different tribes to which they belonged for various crimes,
now associated themselves together, and, living by plunder, prove very
troublesome to travellers who pass this way; nor are even Indians of
every tribe spared by them. The traders had before cautioned me to be
upon my guard against them, and I would repeat the same caution to those
whose business might call them into these parts.
On the first of November I arrived at Lake Pepin, which is rather an
extended part of the River Mississippi, that the French have thus
denominated, about two hundred miles from the Ouisconsin. The
Mississippi below this Lake flows with a gentle current, but the breadth
of it is very uncertain, in some places it being upwards of a mile, in
others not more than a quarter. This River has a range of mountains on
each side throughout the whole of the way; which in particular parts
approach near to it, in others lie at a greater distance. The land
betwixt the mountains, and on their sides, is generally covered with
grass with a few groves of trees interspersed, near which large droves
of deer and elk are frequently seen feeding. In many places pyramids of
rocks appeared, resembling old ruinous towers; at others amazing
precipices; and what is very remarkable, whilst this scene presented
itself on one side, the opposite side of the same mountain was covered
with the finest herbage, which gradually ascended to its summit. From
thence the most beautiful and extensive prospect that imagination can
form opens to your view. Verdant plains, fruitful meadows, numerous
islands, and all these abounding with a variety of trees that yield
amazing quantities of fruit, without care or cultivation, such as the
nut-tree, the maple which produces sugar, vines loaded with rich grapes,
and plum-trees bending under their blooming burdens, but above all, the
fine River flowing gently beneath, and reaching as far as the eye can
extend, by turns attract your admiration and excite your wonder.
The Lake is about twenty miles long and near six in breadth; in some
places it is very deep, and abounds with various kinds of fish. Great
numbers of fowl frequent also this Lake and rivers adjacent, such as
storks, swans, geese, brants, and ducks: and in the groves are found
great plenty of turkeys and partridges. On the plains are the largest
buffaloes of any in America. Here I observed the ruins of a French
factory, where it is said Captain St. Pierre resided, and carried on a
very great trade with the Naudowessies, before the reduction of Canada.
About sixty miles below this Lake is a mountain remarkably situated; for
it stands by itself exactly in the middle of the River, and looks as if
it had slidden from the adjacent shore into the stream. It cannot be
termed an island, as it rises immediately from the brink of the water to
a considerable height. Both the Indians and the French call it the
Mountain in the River.
One day having landed on the shore of the Mississippi, some miles below
Lake Pepin, whilst my attendants were preparing my dinner, I walked out
to take a view of the adjacent country. I had not proceeded far, before
I came to a fine, level, open plain, on which I perceived at a little
distance, a partial elevation that had the appearance of an
intrenchment. On a nearer inspection I had greater reason to suppose
that it had really been intended for this many centuries ago.
Notwithstanding it was now covered with grass, I could plainly discern
that it had once been a breast-work of about four feet in height,
extending the best part of a mile, and sufficiently capacious to cover
five thousand men. Its form was somewhat circular, and its flanks
reached to the River. Though much defaced by time, every angle was
distinguishable, and appeared as regular, and fashioned with as much
military skill, as if planned by Vauban himself. The ditch was not
visible, but I thought on examining more curiously, that I could
perceive there certainly had been one. From its situation also, I am
convinced that it must have been designed for this purpose. It fronted
the country, and the rear was covered by the River; nor was there any
rising ground for a considerable way that commanded it; a few straggling
oaks were alone to be seen near it. In many places small tracks were
worn across it by the feet of the elks and deer, and from the depth of
the bed of earth by which it was covered, I was able to draw certain
conclusions of its great antiquity. I examined all the angles and every
part with great attention, and have often blamed myself since, for not
encamping on the spot, and drawing an exact plan of it. To shew that
this description is not the offspring of a heated imagination, or the
chimerical tale of a mistaken traveller, I find on enquiry since my
return, that Mons. St. Pierre and several traders have, at different
times, taken notice of similar appearances, on which they have formed
the same conjectures, but without examining them so minutely as I did.
How a work of this kind could exist in a country that has hitherto
(according to the general received opinion) been the seat of war to
untutored Indians alone, whose whole stock of military knowledge has
only, till within two centuries, amounted to drawing the bow, and whose
only breast-work even at present is the thicket, I know not. I have
given as exact an account as possible of this singular appearance, and
leave to future explorers of these distant regions to discover whether
it is a production of nature or art. Perhaps the hints I have here given
might lead to a more perfect investigation of it, and give us very
different ideas of the ancient state of realms that we at present
believe to have been from the earliest period only the habitations of
savages.
The Mississippi, as far as the entrance of the River St. Croix, thirty
miles above Lake Pepin, is very full of islands; some of which are of a
considerable length. On these, also, grow great numbers of the maple or
sugar tree, and around them vines loaded with grapes creeping to their
very tops. From the Lake upwards few mountains are to be seen, and those
but small. Near the River St. Croix reside three bands of the
Nawdowessie Indians, called the River Bands.
This nation is composed, at present, of eleven bands. They were
originally twelve; but the Assinipoils some years ago revolting, and
separating themselves from the others, there remain only at this time
eleven. Those I met here are termed the River Bands; because they
chiefly dwell near the banks of this River: the other eight are
generally distinguished by the title of the Naudowessies of the Plains,
and inhabit a country that lies more to the westward. The names of the
former are the Nehogatawonahs, the Mawtawbauntowahs, and the
Shahsweentowahs, and consist of about four hundred warriors.
A little before I met with these three bands I fell in with a party of
the Mawtawbauntowahs, amounting to forty warriors and their families.
With these I resided a day or two, during which time five or six of
their number, who had been out on an excursion, returned in great haste,
and acquainted their companions that a large party of the Chipéway
warriors, “enough,” as they expressed themselves, “to swallow them all
up,” were close at their heels, and on the point of attacking their
little camp. The chiefs applied to me, and desired I would put myself at
their head, and lead them out to oppose their enemies. As I was a
stranger, and unwilling to excite the anger of either nation, I knew not
how to act; and never found myself in a greater dilemma. Had I refused
to assist the Naudowessies I should have drawn on myself their
displeasure, or had I met the Chipéways with hostile intentions, I
should have made that people my foes, and had I been fortunate enough to
have escaped their arrows at this time, on some future occasion should
probably have experienced the severity of their revenge. In this
extremity I chose the middle course, and desired that the Naudowessies
would suffer me to meet them, that I might endeavour to avert their
fury. To this they reluctantly assented, being persuaded, from the
inveteracy which had long prevailed between them, that my remonstrances
would be in vain.
Taking my Frenchman with me, who could speak their language, I hastened
towards the place where the Chipéways were supposed to be. The
Naudowessies during this kept at a distance behind. As I approached them
with the pipe of peace, a small party of their chiefs, consisting of
about eight or ten, came in a friendly manner towards me; with whom, by
means of my interpreter, I held a long conversation; the result of which
was, that their rancour being by my persuasions in some measure
mollified, they agreed to return back without accomplishing their savage
purposes. During our discourse I could perceive, as they lay scattered
about, that the party was very numerous, and many of them armed with
muskets.
Having happily succeeded in my undertaking, I returned without delay to
the Naudowessies, and desired they would instantly remove their camp to
some other part of the country, lest their enemies should repent of the
promise they had given, and put their intentions in execution. They
accordingly followed my advice, and immediately prepared to strike their
tents. Whilst they were doing this they loaded me with thanks; and when
I had seen them on board their canoes I pursued my route.
To this adventure I was chiefly indebted for the friendly reception I
afterwards met with from the Naudowessies of the Plains, and for the
respect and honours I received during my abode among them. And when I
arrived many months after at the Chipéway village, near the Ottowaw
lakes, I found that my fame had reached that place before me. The chiefs
received me with great cordiality, and the elder part of them thanked me
for the mischief I had prevented. They informed me, that the war between
their nation and the Naudowessies had continued without interruption for
more than forty winters. That they had long wished to put an end to it,
but this was generally prevented by the young warriors of either nation,
who could not restrain their ardour when they met. They said, they
should be happy if some chief of the same pacific disposition as myself,
and who possessed an equal degree of resolution and coolness, would
settle in the country between the two nations; for by the interference
of such a person an accommodation, which on their parts they sincerely
desired, might be brought about. As I did not meet any of the
Naudowessies afterwards, I had not an opportunity of forwarding so good
a work.
About thirty miles below the Falls of St. Anthony, at which I arrived
the tenth day after I left Lake Pepin, is a remarkable cave of an
amazing depth. The Indians term it Wakon-teebe, that is, the Dwelling of
the Great Spirit. The entrance into it is about ten feet wide, the
height of it five feet. The arch within is near fifteen feet high and
about thirty feet broad. The bottom of it consists of fine clear sand.
About twenty feet from the entrance begins a lake, the water of which is
transparent, and extends to an unsearchable distance; for the darkness
of the cave prevents all attempts to acquire a knowledge of it. I threw
a small pebble towards the interior parts of it with my utmost strength:
I could hear that it fell into the water, and notwithstanding it was of
so small a size, it caused an astonishing and horrible noise that
reverberated through all those gloomy regions. I found in this cave many
Indian hieroglyphicks, which appeared very ancient, for time had nearly
covered them with moss, so that it was with difficulty I could trace
them. They were cut in a rude manner upon the inside of the walls, which
were composed of a stone so extremely soft that it might be easily
penetrated with a knife: a stone every where to be found near the
Mississippi. The cave is only accessible by ascending a narrow, steep
passage that lies near the brink of the river.
At a little distance from this dreary cavern is the burying-place of
several bands of the Naudowessie Indians: though these people have no
fixed residence, living in tents, and abiding but a few months on one
spot, yet they always bring the bones of their dead to this place; which
they take the opportunity of doing when the chiefs meet to hold their
councils, and to settle all public affairs for the ensuing summer.
Ten miles below the Falls of St. Anthony the River St. Pierre, called by
the natives the Waddapawmenesotor, falls into the Mississippi from the
west. It is not mentioned by Father Hennipin, although a large fair
river: this omission, I conclude, must have proceeded from a small
island that is situated exactly at its entrance, by which the sight of
it is intercepted. I should not have discovered this river myself, had I
not taken a view, when I was searching for it, from the high lands
opposite, which rise to a great height.
Nearly over against this river I was obliged to leave my canoe, on
account of the ice, and travel by land to the Falls of St. Anthony,
where I arrived on the 17th of November. The Mississippi from the St.
Pierre to this place is rather more rapid than I had hitherto found it,
and without islands of any consideration.
Before I left my canoe I overtook a young prince of the Winnebago
Indians, who was going on an embassy to some of the bands of the
Naudowessies. Finding that I intended to take a view of the Falls, he
agreed to accompany me, his curiosity having been often excited by the
accounts he had received from some of his chiefs: he accordingly left
his family (for the Indians never travel without their households) at
this place, under the care of my Mohawk servant, and we proceeded
together by land, attended only by my Frenchman, to this celebrated
place.
We could distinctly hear the noise of the water full fifteen miles
before we reached the Falls; and I was greatly pleased and surprized,
when I approached this astonishing work of nature: but I was not long at
liberty to indulge these emotions, my attention being called off by the
behaviour of my companion.
The prince had no sooner gained the point that overlooks this wonderful
cascade, than he began with an audible voice to address the Great
Spirit, one of whose places of residence he imagined this to be. He told
him that he had come a long way to pay his adorations to him, and now
would make him the best offerings in his power. He accordingly first
threw his pipe into the stream; then the roll that contained his
tobacco; after these, the bracelets he wore on his arms and wrists; next
an ornament that encircled his neck, composed of beads and wires; and at
last the ear-rings from his ears; in short, he presented to his god
every part of his dress that was valuable: during this he frequently
smote his breast with great violence, threw his arms about, and appeared
to be much agitated.
All this while he continued his adorations, and at length concluded them
with fervent petitions that the Great Spirit would constantly afford us
his protection on our travels, giving us a bright sun, a blue sky, and
clear untroubled waters: nor would he leave the place till we had
smoaked together with my pipe in honour of the Great Spirit.
I was greatly surprized at beholding an instance of such elevated
devotion in so young an Indian, and instead of ridiculing the ceremonies
attending it, as I observed my catholic servant tacitly did, I looked on
the prince with a greater degree of respect for these sincere proofs he
gave of his piety; and I doubt not but that his offerings and prayers
were as acceptable to the universal Parent of mankind, as if they had
been made with greater pomp, or in a consecrated place.
Indeed, the whole conduct of this young prince at once amazed and
charmed me. During the few days we were together his attention seemed
totally to be employed in yielding me every assistance in his power; and
even in so short a time he gave me innumerable proofs of the most
generous and disinterested friendship; so that on our return I parted
from him with great reluctance. Whilst I beheld the artless, yet
engaging manners of this unpolished savage, I could not help drawing a
comparison between him and some of the more refined inhabitants of
civilized countries, not much, I own, in favour of the latter.
The Falls of St. Anthony received their name from Father Louis Hennipin,
a French missionary, who travelled into these parts about the year 1680,
and was the first European ever seen by the natives. This amazing body
of waters, which are above 250 yards over, form a most pleasing
cataract; they fall perpendicularly about thirty feet, and the rapids
below, in the space of 300 yards more, render the descent considerably
greater; so that when viewed at a distance they appear to be much higher
than they really are. The above-mentioned traveller has laid them down
at above sixty feet; but he has made a greater error in calculating the
height of the Falls of Niagara; which he asserts to be 600 feet; whereas
from latter observations accurately made, it is well known that it does
not exceed 140 feet. But the good father I fear too often had no other
foundation for his accounts than report, or, at best, a slight
inspection.
In the middle of the Falls stands a small island, about forty feet broad
and somewhat longer, on which grow a few cragged hemlock and spruce
trees; and about half way between this island and the eastern shore is a
rock, lying at the very edge of the Fall, in an oblique position, that
appeared to be about five or six feet broad, and thirty or forty long.
These Falls vary much from all the others I have seen, as you may
approach close to them without finding the least obstruction from any
intervening hill or precipice.
The country around them is extremely beautiful. It is not an
uninterrupted plain where the eye finds no relief, but composed of many
gentle ascents, which in the summer are covered with the finest verdure,
and interspersed with little groves, that give a pleasing variety to the
prospect. On the whole, when the Falls are included, which may be seen
at the distance of four miles, a more pleasing and picturesque view
cannot, I believe, be found throughout the universe. I could have wished
that I had happened to enjoy this glorious sight at a more seasonable
time of the year, whilst the trees and hillocks were clad in nature’s
gayest livery, as this must have greatly added to the pleasure I
received; however, even then it exceeded my warmest expectations. I have
endeavoured to give the Reader as just an idea of this enchanting spot
as possible, in the plan annexed; but all description, whether of the
pencil or the pen, must fall infinitely short of the original.
[Illustration:
Survey’d by Cap^t. Carver, Nov^r. 17, 1766. M. A. Rooker Sculp^t.
_Height of the Fall 30 feet Perpend^r._
_The falls of_ S^t. Anthony _in the River MISSISSIPPI,
near 2400 Miles from its entrance into the Gulf of Mexico._
_Breadth, near 600 feet._
]
At a little distance below the Falls stands a small island, of about an
acre and half, on which grow a great number of oak trees, every branch
of which, able to support the weight, was full of eagles nests. The
reason that this kind of birds resort in such numbers to this spot, is
that they are here secure from the attacks either of man or beast, their
retreat being guarded by the Rapids, which the Indians never attempt to
pass. Another reason is, that they find a constant supply of food for
themselves and their young, from the animals and fish which are dashed
to pieces by the Falls, and driven on the adjacent shore.
Having satisfied my curiosity, as far as the eye of man can be
satisfied, I proceeded on, still accompanied by my young friend, till I
had reached the River St. Francis, near sixty miles above the Falls. To
this river Father Hennipin gave the name of St. Francis, and this was
the extent of his travels, as well as mine, towards the north-west. As
the season was so advanced, and the weather extremely cold, I was not
able to make so many observations on these parts as I otherwise should
have done.
It might however, perhaps, be necessary to observe, that in the little
tour I made about the Falls, after travelling fourteen miles, by the
side of the Mississippi, I came to a river nearly twenty yards wide,
which ran from the north-east, called Rum River. And on the 20th of
November came to another termed Goose River, about twelve yards wide. On
the 21st I arrived at the St. Francis, which is about thirty yards wide.
Here the Mississippi itself grows narrow, being not more than ninety
yards over; and appears to be chiefly composed of small branches. The
ice prevented me from noticing the depth of any of these three rivers.
The country in some places is hilly, but without large mountains; and
the land is tolerably good. I observed here many deer and carribboos,
some elk, with abundance of beavers, otters, and other furs. A little
above this, to the north-east, are a number of small lakes called the
Thousand Lakes; the parts about which, though but little frequented, are
the best within many miles for hunting, as the hunter never fails of
returning loaded beyond his expectations.
The Mississippi has never been explored higher up than the River St.
Francis, and only by Father Hennipin and myself thus far. So that we are
obliged solely to the Indians, for all the intelligence we are able to
give relative to the more northern parts. As this River is not navigable
from the sea for vessels of any considerable burthen, much higher up
than the Forks of the Ohio, and even that is accomplished with great
difficulty, owing to the rapidity of the current, and the windings of
the river, those settlements that may be made on the interior branches
of it, must be indisputably secure from the attacks of any maritime
power. But at the same time the settlers will have the advantage of
being able to convey their produce to the sea-ports with great facility,
the current of the river from its source to its entrance into the Gulph
of Mexico, being extremely favourable for doing this in small craft.
This might also in time be facilitated by canals or shorter cuts; and a
communication opened by water with New York, Canada, &c. by way of the
lakes. The Forks of the Ohio are about nine hundred miles from the mouth
of the Mississippi, following the course of the river; and the Messorie
two hundred miles above these. From the latter it is about twenty miles
to the Illinois River, and from that to the Ouisconsin, which I have
given an account of, about eight hundred more.
On the 25th I returned to my canoe, which I had left at the mouth of the
River St. Pierre; and here I parted with regret from my young friend the
prince of the Winnebagoes. This river being clear of ice by reason of
its southern situation, I found nothing to obstruct my passage. On the
28th, being advanced about forty miles, I arrived at a small branch that
fell into it from the north; to which, as it had no name that I could
distinguish it by, I gave my own; and the Reader will find it in the
plan of my travels denominated Carver’s River. About forty miles higher
up I came to the Forks of Verd and Red Marble Rivers, which join at some
little distance before they enter the St. Pierre.
The River St. Pierre, at its junction with the Mississippi, is about a
hundred yards broad, and continues that breadth nearly all the way I
sailed upon it. It has a great depth of water, and in some places runs
very briskly. About fifty miles from its mouth are some rapids, and much
higher up there are many others.
I proceeded up this river about two hundred miles to the country of the
Naudowessies of the Plains, which lies a little above the Forks formed
by the Verd and Red Marble Rivers, just mentioned, where a branch from
the south nearly joins the Messorie River. By the accounts I received
from the Indians, I have reason to believe that the River St. Pierre and
the Messorie, though they enter the Mississippi twelve hundred miles
from each other, take their rise in the same neighbourhood; and this
within the space of a mile. The River St. Pierre’s northern branch rises
from a number of lakes near the shining mountains; and it is from some
of these, also, that a capital branch of the River Bourbon, which runs
into Hudson’s Bay, has its sources.
From the intelligence I gained from the Naudowessie Indians, among whom
I arrived the 7th of December, and whose language I perfectly acquired
during a residence of five months; and also from the accounts I
afterwards obtained from the Assinipoils, who speak the same tongue,
being a revolted band of the Naudowessies; and from the Killistinoes,
neighbours of the Assinipoils, who speak the Chipéway language, and
inhabit the heads of the River Bourbon; I say from these nations,
together with my own observations, I have learned that the four most
capital rivers on the Continent of North America, viz. the St. Lawrence,
the Mississippi, the River Bourbon, and the Oregon or the River of the
West (as I hinted in my Introduction) have their sources in the same
neighbourhood. The waters of the three former are within thirty miles of
each other; the latter, however, is rather farther west.
This shews that these parts are the highest lands in North America; and
it is an instance not to be paralleled on the other three quarters of
the globe, that four rivers of such magnitude should take their rise
together, and each, after running separate courses, discharge their
waters into different oceans at the distance of two thousand miles from
their sources. For in their passage from this spot to the bay of St.
Lawrence, east, to the bay of Mexico, south, to Hudson’s Bay, north, and
to the bay at the Straights of Annian, west, each of these traverse
upwards of two thousand miles.
I shall here give my Readers such reflections as occurred to me, when I
had received this interesting information, and had, by numberless
inquiries, ascertained the truth of it; that is, as far as it was
possible to arrive at a certainty without a personal investigation.
It is well known that the Colonies, particularly those of New England
and Canada, are greatly affected, about the time their winter sets in,
by a north-west wind, which continues for several months, and renders
the cold much more intense there than it is in the interior parts of
America. This I can, from my own knowledge, assert, as I found the
winter, that I passed to the westward of the Mississippi, far from
severe; and the north-west wind blowing on those countries considerably
more temperate than I have often experienced it to be nearer the coast.
And that this did not arise from an uncertainty of the seasons, but was
annually the case, I conclude, both from the small quantity of snow that
then fell, and a total disuse of snow shoes by these Indians, without
which none of the more eastern nations can possibly travel during the
winter.
As naturalists observe, that air resembles water in many respects,
particularly by often flowing in a compact body; and that this is
generally remarked to be with the current of large streams, and seldom
across them, may not the winds that set violently into the Bay of Mexico
about the latter end of the year, take their course over the continent
in the same direction as the Mississippi does; till meeting with the
north winds (that from a similar cause blow up the Bourbon from Hudson’s
Bay) they are forced across the great lakes, down the current of the
waters of the St. Lawrence, and united, commit those ravages, and
occasion those severe winters, experienced in the before-mentioned
countries? During their progress over the lakes they become expanded,
and consequently affect a greater tract of land than they otherwise
would do.
According to my scanty knowledge of natural philosophy this does not
appear improbable. Whether it is agreeable to the laws established by
naturalists to account for the operations of that element, I know not.
However, the description here given of the situation of these vast
bodies of water, and their near approach to each other, with my own
undigested suppositions of their effect on the winds, may prove perhaps,
in abler hands, the means of leading to many useful discoveries.
On the 7th of December, I arrived (as I said before) at the utmost
extent of my travels towards the west; where I met with a large party of
the Naudowessie Indians, among whom I resided seven months. These
constituted a part of the eight bands of the Naudowessies of the Plains;
and are termed the Wawpeentowahs, the Tintons, the Asrahcootans, the
Mawhaws, and the Schians. The other three bands, whose names are the
Schianese, the Chongousceton, and the Waddapawjestin, dwell higher up,
to the west of the River St. Pierre, on plains that, according to their
account, are unbounded; and probably terminate on the coast of the
Pacific Ocean. The Naudowessie nation, when united, consists of more
than two thousand warriors. The Assinipoils, who revolted from them,
amount to about three hundred; and leagued with the Killistinoes, live
in a continual state of enmity with the other eleven bands.
As I proceeded up the River St. Pierre, and had nearly reached the place
where these people were encamped, I observed two or three canoes coming
down the stream; but no sooner had the Indians that were on board them
discovered us, than they rowed toward the land, and leaping ashore with
precipitation, left their canoes to float as the current drove them. In
a few minutes I perceived some others; who, as soon as they came in
sight, followed, with equal speed, the example of their countrymen.
I now thought it necessary to proceed with caution; and therefore kept
on the side of the river opposite to that on which the Indians had
landed. However, I still continued my course, satisfied that the pipe of
Peace which was fixed at the head of my canoe, and the English colours
that were flying at the stern, would prove my security. After rowing
about half a mile farther, in turning a point, I discovered a great
number of tents, and more than a thousand Indians, at a little distance
from the shore. Being now nearly opposite to them, I ordered my men to
pull directly over, as I was willing to convince the Indians by such a
step, that I placed some confidence in them.
As soon as I had reached the land, two of the chiefs presented their
hands to me, and led me, amidst the astonished multitude, who had most
of them never seen a white man before, to a tent. Into this we entered,
and according to the custom that universally prevails among every Indian
nation, began to smoke the pipe of Peace. We had not sat long before the
crowd became so great, both around, and upon the tent, that we were in
danger of being crushed by its fall. On this we returned to the plain,
where, having gratified the curiosity of the common people, their wonder
abated, and ever after they treated me with great respect.
From the chiefs I met with the most friendly and hospitable reception;
which induced me, as the season was so far advanced, to take up my
residence among them during the winter. To render my stay as comfortable
as possible, I first endeavoured to learn their language. This I soon
did, so as to make myself perfectly intelligible, having before acquired
some slight knowledge of the language of those Indians that live on the
back of the settlements; and in consequence met with every accommodation
their manner of living would afford. Nor did I want for such amusements
as tended to make so long a period pass cheerfully away. I frequently
hunted with them; and at other times beheld with pleasure their
recreations and pastimes, which I shall describe hereafter.
Sometimes I sat with the chiefs, and whilst we smoked the friendly pipe,
entertained them, in return for the accounts they gave me of their wars
and excursions, with a narrative of my own adventures and a description
of all the battles fought between the English and the French in America,
in many of which I had a personal share. They always paid great
attention to my details, and asked many pertinent questions relative to
the European methods of making war.
I held these conversations with them in a great measure to procure from
them some information relative to the chief point I had constantly in
view, that of gaining a knowledge of the situation and produce, both of
their own country, and those that lay to the westward of them. Nor was I
disappointed in my designs; for I procured from them much useful
intelligence. They likewise drew for me plans of all the countries with
which they were acquainted; but as I entertained no great opinion of
their geographical knowledge, I placed not much dependence on them, and
therefore think it unnecessary to give them to the public. Such as I
afterwards found confirmed, by other accounts, or by my own
observations, make a part of the map prefixed to this work. They draw
with a piece of burnt coal, taken from the hearth, upon the inside bark
of the birch tree; which is as smooth as paper, and answers the same
purposes, notwithstanding it is of a yellow cast. Their sketches are
made in a rude manner, but they seem to give as just an idea of a
country, although the plan is not so exact, as more experienced
draughtsmen could do.
I left the habitations of these hospitable Indians the latter end of
April 1767; but did not part from them for several days, as I was
accompanied on my journey by near three hundred of them, among whom were
many chiefs, to the mouth of the River St. Pierre. At this season, these
bands annually go to the Great Cave, before mentioned, to hold a grand
council with all the other bands; wherein they settle their operations
for the ensuing year. At the same time they carry with them their dead
for interment bound up in buffaloes skins. Besides those that
accompanied me, others were gone before, and the rest were to follow.
Never did I travel with so cheerful and happy a company. But their mirth
met with a hidden and temporary allay from a violent storm that overtook
us one day on our passage. We had just landed, and were preparing to set
up our tents for the night, when a heavy cloud overspread the heavens,
and the most dreadful thunder, lightning, and rain issued from it, that
ever I beheld.
The Indians were greatly terrified, and ran to such shelter as they
could find; for only a few tents were as yet erected. Apprehensive of
the danger that might ensue from standing near any thing which could
serve for a conductor, as the cloud appeared to contain such an uncommon
quantity of the electrical fluid, I took my stand as far as possible
from any covering; chusing rather to be exposed to the peltings of the
storm than to receive a fatal stroke. At this the Indians were greatly
surprized, and drew conclusions from it not unfavourable to the opinion
they already entertained of my resolution. Yet I acknowledge that I was
never more affected in my life; for nothing scarcely could exceed the
terrific scene. The peals of thunder were so loud that they shook the
earth; and the lightning flashed along the ground in streams of sulphur;
so that the Indian chiefs themselves, although their courage in war is
usually invincible, could not help trembling at the horrid combustion.
As soon as the storm was over, they flocked around me, and informed me,
that it was a proof of the anger of the evil spirits, whom they were
apprehensive that they had highly offended.
When we arrived at the Great Cave, and the Indians had deposited the
remains of their deceased friends in the burial-place that stands
adjacent to it, they held their great council, into which I was
admitted, and at the same time had the honour to be installed or adopted
a chief of their bands. On this occasion I made the following speech,
which I insert to give my Readers a specimen of the language and manner
in which it is necessary to address the Indians, so as to engage their
attention, and to render the speaker’s expressions consonant to their
ideas. It was delivered on the first day of May 1767.
“My brothers, chiefs of the numerous and powerful Naudowessies! I
rejoice that through my long abode with you, I can now speak to you
(though after an imperfect manner) in your own tongue, like one of your
own children. I rejoice also that I have had an opportunity so
frequently to inform you of the glory and power of the Great King that
reigns over the English and other nations; who is descended from a very
ancient race of sovereigns, as old as the earth and waters; whose feet
stand on two great islands, larger than any you have ever seen, amidst
the greatest waters in the world; whose head reaches to the sun, and
whose arms encircle the whole earth. The number of whose warriors are
equal to the trees in the vallies, the stalks of rice in yonder marshes,
or the blades of grass on your great plains. Who has hundreds of canoes
of his own, of such amazing bigness, that all the waters in your country
would not suffice for one of them to swim in; each of which have guns,
not small like mine which you see before you, but of such magnitude,
that a hundred of your stoutest young men would with difficulty be able
to carry one. And these are equally surprizing in their operation
against the great king’s enemies when engaged in battle; the terror they
carry with them your language wants words to express. You may remember
the other day when we were encamping at Wadawpawmenesoter, the black
clouds, the wind, the fire, the stupendous noise, the horrible cracks,
and the trembling of the earth which then alarmed you, and gave you
reason to think your gods were angry with you; not unlike these are the
warlike implements of the English when they are fighting the battles of
their great King.
“Several of the chiefs of your bands have often told me, in times past,
when I dwelt with you in your tents, that they much wished to be counted
among the children and allies of the great King my master. You may
remember how often you have desired me, when I return again to my own
country, to acquaint the great King of your good disposition towards him
and his subjects, and that you wished for traders from the English to
come among you. Being now about to take my leave of you, and to return
to my own country, a long way towards the rising sun, I again ask you to
tell me whether you continue of the same mind as when I spoke to you in
council last winter; and as there are now several of your chiefs here,
who came from the great plains towards the setting of the sun, whom I
have never spoke with in council before, I ask you to let me know if you
are all willing to acknowledge yourselves the children of my great
master the King of the English and other nations, as I shall take the
first opportunity to acquaint him of your desires and good intentions. I
charge you not to give heed to bad reports; for there are wicked birds
flying about among the neighbouring nations, who may whisper evil things
in your ears against the English, contrary to what I have told you; you
must not believe them, for I have told you the truth.
“And as for the chiefs that are about to go to Michillimackinac, I shall
take care to make for them and their suite, a straight road, smooth
waters, and a clear sky; that they may go there, and smoke the pipe of
Peace, and rest secure on a beaver blanket under the shade of the great
tree of peace. Farewell!”
To this speech I received the following answer, from the mouth of the
principal chief:
“Good brother! I am now about to speak to you with the mouths of these
my brothers, chiefs of the eight bands of the powerful nation of the
Naudowessies. We believe and are well satisfied in the truth of every
thing you have told us about your great nation, and the Great King our
greatest father; for whom we spread this beaver blanket, that his
fatherly protection may ever rest easy and safe amongst us his children:
your colours and your arms agree with the accounts you have given us
about your great nation. We desire that when you return, you will
acquaint the Great King how much the Naudowessies wish to be counted
among his good children. You may believe us when we tell you that we
will not open our ears to any who may dare to speak evil of our Great
Father the King of the English and other nations.
“We thank you for what you have done for us in making peace between the
Naudowessies and the Chipéways, and hope when you return to us again,
that you will complete this good work; and quite dispelling the clouds
that intervene, open the blue sky of peace, and cause the bloody hatchet
to be deep buried under the roots of the great tree of peace.
“We wish you to remember to represent to our Great Father, how much we
desire that traders may be sent to abide among us, with such things as
we need, that the hearts of our young men, our wives, and children may
be made glad. And may peace subsist between us, so long as the sun, the
moon, the earth, and the waters shall endure. Farewell.”
I thought it necessary to caution the Indians against giving heed to any
bad reports that may reach them from the neighbouring nations to the
disadvantage of the English, as I had heard, at different places through
which I passed, that emissaries were still employed by the French to
detach those who were friendly to the English from their interest. And I
saw, myself, several belts of Wampum that had been delivered for this
purpose to some of the tribes I was among. On the delivery of each of
these a Talk was held, wherein the Indians were told that the English,
who were but a petty people, had stolen that country from their Great
Father the king of France whilst he was asleep; but that he would soon
awake, and take them again under his protection. These I found were sent
from Canada by persons who appeared to be well affected towards the
government under which they lived.
Whilst I tarried at the mouth of the River St. Pierre with these
friendly Indians, I endeavoured to gain intelligence whether any goods
had been sent towards the Falls of St. Anthony for my use, agreeable to
the promise I had received from the governor when I left
Michillimackinac. But finding from some Indians, who passed by in their
return from those parts, that this agreement had not been fulfilled, I
was obliged to give up all thoughts of proceeding farther to the
north-west by this route, according to my original plan. I therefore
returned to La Prairie le Chien, where I procured as many goods from the
traders I left there the preceding year as they could spare.
As these however were not sufficient to enable me to renew my first
design, I determined to endeavour to make my way across the country of
the Chipéways to Lake Superior; in hopes of meeting at the Grand Portage
on the north side of it, the traders that annually go from
Michillimackinac to the north-west; of whom I doubted not but that I
should be able to procure goods enough to answer my purpose, and also to
penetrate through those more northern parts to the Straights of Annian.
And I the more readily returned to La Prairie le Chien, as I could by
that means the better fulfil the engagement I had made to the party of
Naudowessies mentioned at the conclusion of my speech. During my abode
with this people, wishing to secure them entirely in the interest of the
English, I had advised some of the chiefs to go to Michillimackinac,
where they would have an opportunity of trading, and of hearing the
accounts that I had entertained them with of my countrymen confirmed. At
the same time I had furnished them with a recommendation to the
governor, and given them every direction necessary for their voyage.
In consequence of this one of the principal chiefs, and twenty-five of
an inferior rank, agreed to go the ensuing summer. This they took an
opportunity of doing when they came with the rest of their band to
attend the grand council at the mouth of the River St. Pierre. Being
obliged, on account of the disappointment I had just been informed of,
to return so far down the Mississippi, I could from thence the more
easily set them on their journey.
As the intermediate parts of this river are much frequented by the
Chipéways, with whom the Naudowessies are continually at war, they
thought it more prudent, being but a small party, to take the advantage
of the night, than to travel with me by day; accordingly no sooner was
the grand council broke up, than I took a friendly leave of these
people, from whom I had received innumerable civilities, and pursued
once more my voyage.
I reached the eastern side of Lake Pepin the same night, where I went
ashore and encamped as usual. The next morning, when I had proceeded
some miles farther, I perceived at a distance before me a smoke, which
denoted that some Indians were near; and in a short time discovered ten
or twelve tents not far from the bank of the river. As I was
apprehensive that this was a party of the Rovers I had before met with,
I knew not what course to pursue. My attendants persuaded me to
endeavour to pass by them on the opposite side of the river; but as I
had hitherto found that the best way to ensure a friendly reception from
the Indians is to meet them boldly, and without shewing any tokens of
fear, I would by no means consent to their proposal. Instead of this I
crossed directly over, and landed in the midst of them, for by this time
the greatest part of them were standing on the shore.
The first I accosted were Chipéways inhabiting near the Ottowaw lakes;
who received me with great cordiality, and shook me by the hand in token
of friendship. At some little distance behind these stood a chief
remarkably tall and well made, but of so stern an aspect that the most
undaunted person could not behold him without feeling some degree of
terror. He seemed to have passed the meridian of life, and by the mode
in which he was painted and tatowed, I discovered that he was of high
rank. However, I approached him in a courteous manner, and expected to
have met with the same reception I had done from the others: but to my
great surprize he with-held his hand, and looking fiercely at me, said
in the Chipéway tongue, “Cawin nishishin saganosh,” that is, “The
English are no good.” As he had his tomahawk in his hand, I expected
that this laconick sentence would have been followed by a blow; to
prevent which I drew a pistol from my belt, and, holding it in a
careless position, passed close by him, to let him see I was not afraid
of him.
I learned soon after from the other Indians, that this was a chief,
called by the French the Grand Sautor, or the Great Chipéway Chief, for
they denominate the Chipéways Sautors. They likewise told me that he had
been always a steady friend to that people, and when they delivered up
Michillimackinac to the English on their evacuation of Canada, the Grand
Sautor had sworn that he would ever remain the avowed enemy of its new
possessors, as the territories on which the fort is built belonged to
him.
Finding him thus disposed, I took care to be constantly upon my guard
whilst I staid; but that he might not suppose I was driven away by his
frowns, I took up my abode there for the night. I pitched my tent at
some distance from the Indians, and had no sooner laid myself down to
rest, than I was awakened by my French servant. Having been alarmed by
the sound of Indian music, he had run to the outside of the tent, where
he beheld a party of the young savages dancing towards us in an
extraordinary manner, each carrying in his hand a torch fixed on the top
of a long pole. But I shall defer any further account of this uncommon
entertainment, which at once surprized and alarmed me, till I treat of
the Indian dances.
The next morning I continued my voyage, and before night reached La
Prairie le Chien; at which place the party of Naudowessies soon overtook
me. Not long after the Grand Sautor also arrived, and before the
Naudowessies left that place to continue their journey to
Michillimackinac, he found means, in conjunction with some French
traders from Louisiana, to draw from me about ten of the Naudowessie
chiefs, whom he prevailed upon to go towards those parts.
The remainder proceeded, according to my directions, to the English
fort; from whence I afterwards heard that they returned to their own
country without any unfortunate accident befalling them, and greatly
pleased with the reception they had met with. Whilst not more than half
of those who went to the southward, through the difference of that
southern climate from their own, lived to reach their abode. And since I
came to England I have been informed, that the Grand Sautor having
rendered himself more and more disgustful to the English by his
inveterate enmity towards them, was at length stabbed in his tent, as he
encamped near Michillimackinac, by a trader to whom I had related the
foregoing story.
I should have remarked, that whatever Indians happen to meet at La
Prairie le Chien, the great mart to which all who inhabit the adjacent
countries resort, though the nations to which they belong are at war
with each other, yet they are obliged to restrain their enmity, and to
forbear all hostile acts during their stay there. This regulation has
been long established among them for their mutual convenience, as
without it no trade could be carried on. The same rule is observed also
at the Red Mountain (afterwards described) from whence they get the
stone of which they make their pipes: these being indispensable to the
accommodation of every neighbouring tribe, a similar restriction becomes
needful, and is of public utility.
The River St. Pierre, which runs through the territories of the
Naudowessies, flows through a most delightful country, abounding with
all the necessaries of life, that grow spontaneously; and with a little
cultivation it might be made to produce even the luxuries of life. Wild
rice grows here in great abundance; and every part is filled with trees
bending under their loads of fruits, such as plums, grapes, and apples;
the meadows are covered with hops, and many sorts of vegetables; whilst
the ground is stored with useful roots, with angelica, spikenard, and
ground-nuts as large as hens eggs. At a little distance from the sides
of the river are eminences, from which you have views that cannot be
exceeded even by the most beautiful of those I have already described;
amidst these are delightful groves, and such amazing quantities of
maples, that they would produce sugar sufficient for any number of
inhabitants.
A little way from the mouth of this river, on the north side of it,
stands a hill, one part of which, that towards the Mississippi, is
composed entirely of white stone, of the same soft nature as that I have
before described; for such, indeed, is all the stone in this country.
But what appears remarkable is, that the colour of it is as white as the
driven snow. The outward part of it was crumbled by the wind and weather
into heaps of sand, of which a beautiful composition might be made; or,
I am of opinion that, when properly treated, the stone itself would grow
harder by time, and have a very noble effect in architecture.
Near that branch which is termed the Marble River, is a mountain, from
whence the Indians get a sort of red stone, out of which they hew the
bowls of their pipes. In some of these parts is found a black hard clay,
or rather stone, of which the Naudowessies make their family utensils.
This country likewise abounds with a milk-white clay, of which China
ware might be made equal in goodness to the Asiatic; and also with a
blue clay that serves the Indians for paint; with this last they
contrive, by mixing it with the red stone powdered, to paint themselves
of different colours. Those that can get the blue clay here mentioned,
paint themselves very much with it; particularly when they are about to
begin their sports and pastimes. It is also esteemed by them a mark of
peace, as it has a resemblance of a blue sky, which with them is a
symbol of it, and made use of in their speeches as a figurative
expression to denote peace. When they wish to shew that their
inclinations are pacific towards other tribes, they greatly ornament
both themselves and their belts with it.
Having concluded my business at La Prairie le Chien, I proceeded once
more up the Mississippi as far as the place where the Chipéway River
enters it a little below Lake Pepin. Here, having engaged an Indian
pilot, I directed him to steer towards the Ottawaw Lakes which lie near
the head of this river. This he did, and I arrived at them the beginning
of July.
The Chipéway River, at its junction with the Mississippi, is about
eighty yards wide, but is much wider as you advance into it. Near thirty
miles up it separates into two branches, and I took my course through
that which lies to the eastward.
The country adjoining to the river, for about sixty miles, is very
level, and on its banks lie fine meadows, where larger droves of
buffaloes and elks were feeding, than I had observed in any other part
of my travels. The track between the two branches of this river is
termed the Road of War between the Chipéway and Naudowessie Indians.
The country to the Falls marked in the plan at the extent of the traders
travels, is almost without any timber, and above that very uneven and
rugged, and closely wooded with pines, beech, maple, and birch. Here a
most remarkable and astonishing sight presented itself to my view. In a
wood, on the east of the river, which was about three quarters of a mile
in length, and in depth farther than my eye could reach, I observed that
every tree, many of which were more than six feet in circumference, was
lying flat on the ground torn up by the roots. This appeared to have
been done by some extraordinary hurricane that came from the west some
years ago, but how many I could not learn, as I found no inhabitants
near it, of whom I could gain information. The country on the west side
of the river, from being less woody, had escaped in a great measure this
havock, as only a few trees were blown down.
Near the heads of this river is a town of the Chipéways, from whence it
takes its name. It is situated on each side of the river (which at this
place is of no considerable breadth) and lies adjacent to the banks of a
small lake. This town contains about forty houses, and can send out
upwards of one hundred warriors, many of whom were fine stout young men.
The houses of it are built after the Indian manner, and have neat
plantations behind them; but the inhabitants, in general, seemed to be
the nastiest people I had ever been among. I observed that the women and
children indulged themselves in a custom, which though common, in some
degree, throughout every Indian nation, appears to be, according to our
ideas, of the most nauseous and indelicate nature; that of searching
each other’s head, and eating the prey caught therein.
In July I left this town, and having crossed a number of small lakes and
carrying places that intervened, came to a head branch of the River St.
Croix. This branch I descended to a fork, and then ascended another to
its source. On both these rivers I discovered several mines of virgin
copper, which was as pure as that found in any other country.
Here I came to a small brook, which my guide thought might be joined at
some distance by streams that would at length render it navigable. The
water at first was so scanty, that my canoe would by no means swim in
it; but having stopped up several old beaver dams which had been broken
down by the hunters, I was enabled to proceed for some miles, till by
the conjunction of a few brooks, these aids became no longer necessary.
In a short time the water increased to a most rapid river, which we
descended till it entered into Lake Superior. This river I named after a
gentleman that desired to accompany me from the town of the Ottagaumies
to the Carrying Place on Lake Superior, Goddard’s River.
To the west of this is another small river, which also empties itself
into the Lake. This I termed Strawberry River, from the great number of
strawberries of a good size and fine flavour that grew on its banks.
The country from the Ottawaw Lakes to Lake Superior is in general very
uneven and thickly covered with woods. The soil in some places tolerably
good, in others but indifferent. In the heads of the St. Croix and the
Chipéway Rivers are exceeding fine sturgeon. All the wilderness between
the Mississippi and Lake Superior is called by the Indians the
Moschettoe country, and I thought it most justly named; for, it being
then their season, I never saw or felt so many of those insects in my
life.
The latter end of July I arrived, after having coasted through West Bay,
at the Grand Portage, which lies on the north-west borders of Lake
Superior. Here those who go on the north-west trade, to the Lakes De
Pluye, Dubois, &c. carry over their canoes and baggage about nine miles,
till they come to a number of small lakes, the waters of some of which
descend into Lake Superior, and others into the River Bourbon. Lake
Superior from West Bay to this place is bounded by rocks, except towards
the south-west part of the Bay where I first entered it, there it was
tolerably level.
At the Grand Portage is a small bay, before the entrance of which lies
an island that intercepts the dreary and uninterrupted view over the
Lake which otherwise would have presented itself, and makes the bay
serene and pleasant. Here I met a large party of the Killistinoe and
Assinipoil Indians, with their respective kings and their families. They
were come to this place in order to meet the traders from
Michillimackinac, who make this their road to the north-west. From them
I received the following account of the Lakes that lie to the north-west
of Lake Superior.
Lake Bourbon, the most northern of those yet discovered, received its
name from some French traders who accompanied a party of Indians to
Hudson’s Bay some years ago; and was thus denominated by them in honour
of the royal family of France. It is composed of the waters of the
Bourbon River, which, as I have before observed, rises a great way to
the southward, not far from the northern heads of the Mississippi.
This Lake is about eighty miles in length, north and south, and is
nearly circular. It has no very large islands on it. The land on the
eastern side is very good; and to the south-west there are some
mountains: in many other parts there are barren plains, bogs, and
morasses. Its latitude is between fifty-two and fifty-four degrees
north, and it lies nearly south-west from Hudson’s Bay. As through its
northern situation the weather there is extremely cold, only a few
animals are to be found in the country that borders on it. They gave me
but an indifferent account either of the beasts, birds, or fishes. There
are indeed some buffaloes of a small size, which are fat and good about
the latter end of summer, with a few moose and carribboo deer; however
this deficiency is made up by the furs of every sort that are to be met
with in great plenty around the Lake. The timber growing here is chiefly
fir, cedar, spruce, and some maple.
Lake Winnepeek, or as the French write it Lac Ouinipique, which lies
nearest to the foregoing, is composed of the same waters. It is in
length about two hundred miles north and south; its breadth has never
been properly ascertained, but is supposed to be about one hundred miles
in its widest part. This Lake is very full of islands; these are,
however, of no great magnitude. Many considerable rivers empty
themselves into it, which, as yet, are not distinguished by any names.
The waters are stored with fish, such as trout and sturgeon, and also
with others of a smaller kind peculiar to these Lakes.
The land on the south-west part of it is very good, especially about the
entrance of a large branch of the River Bourbon which flows from the
south-west. On this River there is a factory that was built by the
French called Fort La Reine, to which the traders from Michillimackinac
resort to trade with the Assinipoils and Killistinoes. To this place the
Mahahs, who inhabit a country two hundred and fifty miles south-west,
come also to trade with them; and bring great quantities of Indian corn
to exchange for knives, tomahawks, and other articles. These people are
supposed to dwell on some of the branches of the River of the West.
Lake Winnepeek has on the north-east some mountains, and on the east
many barren plains. The maple or sugar tree grows here in great plenty,
and there is likewise gathered an amazing quantity of rice, which proves
that grain will flourish in these northern climates as well as in
warmer. Buffaloes, carribboo, and moose deer, are numerous in these
parts. The buffaloes of this country differ from those that are found
more to the south only in size; the former being much smaller: just as
the black cattle of the northern parts of Great Britain differ from
English oxen.
On the waters that fall into this Lake, the neighbouring nations take
great numbers of excellent furs. Some of these they carry to the
factories and settlements belonging to the Hudson’s Bay Company,
situated above the entrance of the Bourbon River: but this they do with
reluctance on several accounts; for some of the Assinipoils and
Killistinoes, who usually traded with the Company’s servants, told me,
that if they could be sure of a constant supply of goods from
Michillimackinac, they would not trade any where else. They shewed me
some cloth and other articles that they had purchased at Hudson’s Bay,
with which they were much dissatisfied, thinking they had been greatly
imposed upon in the barter.
Allowing that their accounts were true, I could not help joining in
their opinion. But this dissatisfaction might probably proceed, in a
great measure, from the intrigues of the Canadian traders: for whilst
the French were in possession of Michillimackinac, having acquired a
thorough knowledge of the trade of the north-west countries, they were
employed on that account, after the reduction of Canada, by the English
traders there, in the establishment of this trade with which they were
themselves quite unacquainted. One of the methods they took to withdraw
these Indians from their attachment to the Hudson’s Bay Company, and to
engage their good opinion in behalf of their new employers, was by
depreciating on all occasions the Company’s goods, and magnifying the
advantages that would arise to them from trafficking entirely with the
Canadian traders. In this they too well succeeded, and from this,
doubtless, did the dissatisfaction the Assinipoils and Killistinoes
expressed to me, partly proceed. But another reason augmented it; and
this was the length of their journey to the Hudson’s Bay factories,
which, they informed me, took them up three months during the summer
heats to go and return, and from the smallness of their canoes they
could not carry more than a third of the beavers they killed. So that it
is not to be wondered at, that these Indians should wish to have traders
come to reside among them. It is true that the parts they inhabit are
within the limits of the Hudson’s Bay territories, but the Company must
be under the necessity of winking at an encroachment of this kind, as
the Indians would without doubt protect the traders when among them.
Besides, the passports granted to the traders that go from
Michillimackinac give them liberty to trade to the north-west about Lake
Superior; by which is meant Fort La Reine, Lake Winnepeek, or any other
parts of the waters of the Bourbon River, where the Couriers de Bois, or
Traders, may make it most convenient to reside.
Lac du Bois, as it is commonly termed by the French in their maps, or in
English the Lake of the Wood, is so called from the multiplicity of wood
growing on its banks; such as oaks, pines, firs, spruce, &c. This Lake
lies still higher up a branch of the River Bourbon, and nearly east from
the south end of Lake Winnepeek. It is of great depth in some places.
Its length from east to west about seventy miles, and its greatest
breadth about forty miles. It has but few islands, and these of no great
magnitude. The fishes, fowls, and quadrupeds that are found near it,
vary but little from those of the other two lakes. A few of the
Killistinoe Indians sometimes encamp on the borders of it to fish and
hunt.
This Lake lies in the communication between Lake Superior, and the Lakes
Winnepeek and Bourbon. Its waters are not esteemed quite so pure as
those of the other lakes, it having, in many places, a muddy bottom.
Lac La Pluye, so called by the French, in English the Rainy Lake, is
supposed to have acquired this name from the first travellers, that
passed over it, meeting with an uncommon deal of rain; or, as some have
affirmed, from a mist like rain occasioned by a perpendicular water-fall
that empties itself into a river which lies to the south-west.
This Lake appears to be divided by an isthmus, near the middle, into two
parts: the west part is called the Great Rainy Lake, the east, the
Little Rainy Lake, as being the least division. It lies a few miles
farther to the eastward, on the same branch of the Bourbon, than the
last-mentioned Lake. It is in general very shallow in its depth. The
broadest part of it is not more than twenty miles, its length, including
both, about three hundred miles. In the west part the water is very
clear and good; and some excellent fish are taken in it. A great many
fowl resort here at the fall of the year. Moose deer are to be found in
great plenty, and likewise the carribboo; whose skin for breeches or
gloves exceeds by far any other to be met with in North-America. The
land on the borders of this Lake is esteemed in some places very good,
but rather too thickly covered with wood. Here reside a considerable
band of the Chipéways.
Eastward from this Lake lie several small ones, which extend in a string
to the great carrying place, and from thence into Lake Superior. Between
these little Lakes are several carrying places, which renders the trade
to the north-west difficult to accomplish, and exceedingly tedious, as
it takes two years to make one voyage from Michillimackinac to these
parts.
Red Lake is a comparatively small lake at the head of a branch of the
Bourbon River, which is called by some Red River. Its form is nearly
round, and about sixty miles in circumference. On one side of it is a
tolerable large island, close by which a small river enters. It bears
almost south-east both from Lake Winnepeek and from Lake du Bois. The
parts adjacent are very little known, or frequented, even by the savages
themselves.
Not far from this Lake, a little to the south-west, is another called
White Bear Lake, which is nearly about the size of the last mentioned.
The waters that compose this Lake are the most northern of any that
supply the Mississippi, and may be called with propriety its most remote
source. It is fed by two or three small rivers or rather large brooks.
A few miles from it, to the south-east, are a great number of small
lakes, none of which are more than ten miles in circumference, that are
called the Thousand Lakes. In the adjacent country is reckoned the
finest hunting for furs of any on this continent; the Indians who hunt
here seldom returning without having their canoes loaded as deep as they
can swim.
Having just before observed that this Lake is the utmost northern source
of the Mississippi, I shall here further remark, that before this river
enters the Gulph of Mexico, it has not run less, through all its
meanderings, than three thousand miles; or, in a strait line from north
to south, about twenty degrees, which is nearly fourteen hundred English
miles.
These Indians informed me, that to the north-west of Lake Winnepeek lies
another, whose circumference vastly exceeded any they had given me an
account of. They describe it as much larger than Lake Superior. But as
it appears to be so far to the north-west, I should imagine that it was
not a lake, but rather the Archipelago or broken waters that form the
communication between Hudson’s Bay and the northern parts of the Pacific
Ocean.
There are an infinite number of small lakes, on the more western parts
of the western head-branches of the Mississippi, as well as between
these and Lake Winnepeek, but none of them are large enough to suppose
either of them to be the lake or waters meant by the Indians.
They likewise informed me, that some of the northern branches of the
Messorie and the southern branches of the St. Pierre have a
communication with each other, except for a mile; over which they carry
their canoes. And by what I could learn from them, this is the road they
take when their war parties make their excursions upon the Pawnees and
Pawnawnees, nations inhabiting some branches of the Messorie River. In
the country belonging to these people it is said, that Mandrakes are
frequently found, a species of root resembling human beings of both
sexes; and that these are more perfect than such as are discovered about
the Nile in Nether-Ethiopia.
A little to the north-west of the heads of the Messorie and the St.
Pierre, the Indians further told me, that there was a nation rather
smaller and whiter than the neighbouring tribes, who cultivate the
ground, and (as far as I could gather from their expressions) in some
measure, the arts. To this account they added that some of the nations,
who inhabit those parts that lie to the west of the Shining Mountains,
have gold so plenty among them that they make their most common utensils
of it. These mountains (which I shall describe more particularly
hereafter) divide the waters that fall into the South Sea from those
that run into the Atlantic.
The people dwelling near them are supposed to be some of the different
tribes that were tributary to the Mexican kings, and who fled from their
native country to seek an asylum in these parts, about the time of the
conquest of Mexico by the Spaniards, more than two centuries ago.
As some confirmation of this supposition it is remarked, that they have
chosen the most interior parts for their retreat, being still
prepossessed with a notion that the sea-coasts have been infested ever
since with monsters vomiting fire, and hurling about thunder and
lightning; from whose bowels issued men, who, with unseen instruments,
or by the power of magick, killed the harmless Indians at an astonishing
distance. From such as these, their fore-fathers (according to a
tradition among them that still remains unimpaired) fled to the retired
abodes they now inhabit. For as they found that the floating monsters
which had thus terrified them could not approach the land, and that
those who had descended from their sides did not care to make excursions
to any considerable distance from them, they formed a resolution to
betake themselves to some country, that lay far from the sea-coasts,
where only they could be secure from such diabolical enemies. They
accordingly set out with their families, and after a long peregrination,
settled themselves near these mountains, where they concluded they had
found a place of perfect security.
The Winnebagoes, dwelling on the Fox River (whom I have already treated
of) are likewise supposed to be some strolling band from the Mexican
countries. But they are able to give only an imperfect account of their
original residence. They say they formerly came a great way from the
westward, and were driven by wars to take refuge among the Naudowessies;
but as they are entirely ignorant of the arts, or of the value of gold,
it is rather to be supposed, that they were driven from their ancient
settlements by the above-mentioned emigrants, as they passed on towards
their present habitation.
These suppositions, however, may want confirmation; for the smaller
tribes of Indians are subject to such various alterations in their
places of abode, from the wars they are continually engaged in, that it
is almost impossible to ascertain, after half a century, the original
situation of any of them.
That range of mountains, of which the Shining Mountains are a part,
begin at Mexico, and continuing northward on the back, or to the east of
California, separate the waters of those numerous rivers that fall
either into the Gulph of Mexico, or the Gulph of California. From thence
continuing their course still northward, between the sources of the
Mississippi and the rivers that run into the South Sea, they appear to
end in about forty-seven or forty-eight degrees of north latitude; where
a number of rivers arise, and empty themselves either into the South
Sea, into Hudson’s Bay, or into the waters that communicate between
these two seas.
Among these mountains, those that lie to the west of the River St.
Pierre, are called the Shining Mountains, from an infinite number of
chrystal stones, of an amazing size, with which they are covered, and
which, when the sun shines full upon them, sparkle so as to be seen at a
very great distance.
This extraordinary range of mountains is calculated to be more than
three thousand miles in length, without any very considerable intervals,
which I believe surpasses any thing of the kind in the other quarters of
the globe. Probably in future ages they may be found to contain more
riches in their bowels, than those of Indostan and Malabar, or that are
produced on the Golden Coast of Guinea; nor will I except even the
Peruvian Mines. To the west of these mountains, when explored by future
Columbuses or Raleighs, may be found other lakes, rivers, and countries,
full fraught with all the necessaries or luxuries of life; and where
future generations may find an asylum, whether driven from their country
by the ravages of lawless tyrants, or by religious persecutions, or
reluctantly leaving it to remedy the inconveniences arising from a
superabundant increase of inhabitants; whether, I say, impelled by
these, or allured by hopes of commercial advantages, there is little
doubt but their expectations will be fully gratified in these rich and
unexhausted climes.
But to return to the Assinipoils and Killistinoes, whom I left at the
Grand Portage, and from whom I received the foregoing account of the
lakes that lie to the north-west of this place.
The traders we expected being later this season than usual, and our
numbers very considerable, for there were more than three hundred of us,
the stock of provision we had brought with us was nearly exhausted, and
we waited with impatience for their arrival.
One day, whilst we were all expressing our wishes for this desirable
event, and looking from an eminence in hopes of seeing them come over
the lake, the chief priest belonging to the band of the Killistinoes
told us, that he would endeavour to obtain a conference with the Great
Spirit, and know from him when the traders would arrive. I paid little
attention to this declaration, supposing that it would be productive of
some juggling trick, just sufficiently covered to deceive the ignorant
Indians. But the king of that tribe telling me that this was chiefly
undertaken by the priest to alleviate my anxiety, and at the same time
to convince me how much interest he had with the Great Spirit, I thought
it necessary to restrain my animadversions on his design.
The following evening was fixed upon for this spiritual conference. When
every thing had been properly prepared, the king came to me and led me
to a capacious tent, the covering of which was drawn up, so as to render
what was transacting within visible to those who stood without. We found
the tent surrounded by a great number of the Indians, but we readily
gained admission, and seated ourselves on skins laid on the ground for
that purpose.
In the centre I observed that there was a place of an oblong shape,
which was composed of stakes stuck in the ground, with intervals
between, so as to form a kind of chest or coffin, large enough to
contain the body of a man. These were of a middle size, and placed at
such a distance from each other, that whatever lay within them was
readily to be discerned. The tent was perfectly illuminated by a great
number of torches made of splinters cut from the pine or birch tree,
which the Indians held in their hands.
In a few minutes the priest entered; when an amazing large elk’s skin
being spread on the ground, just at my feet, he laid himself down upon
it, after having stript himself of every garment except that which he
wore close about his middle. Being now prostrate on his back, he first
laid hold of one side of the skin, and folded it over him, and then the
other; leaving only his head uncovered. This was no sooner done, than
two of the young men who stood by took about forty yards of strong cord,
made also of an elk’s hide, and rolled it tight round his body, so that
he was completely swathed within the skin. Being thus bound up like an
Egyptian Mummy, one took him by the heels, and the other by the head,
and lifted him over the pales into the inclosure. I could also now
discern him as plain as I had hitherto done, and I took care not to turn
my eyes a moment from the object before me, that I might the more
readily detect the artifice; for such I doubted not but that it would
turn out to be.
The priest had not lain in this situation more than a few seconds, when
he began to mutter. This he continued to do for some time, and then by
degrees grew louder and louder, till at length he spoke articulately;
however what he uttered was in such a mixed jargon of the Chipéway,
Ottowaw, and Killistinoe languages, that I could understand but very
little of it. Having continued in this tone for a considerable while, he
at last exerted his voice to its utmost pitch, sometimes raving and
sometimes praying, till he had worked himself into such an agitation,
that he foamed at his mouth.
After having remained near three quarters of an hour in the place, and
continued his vociferation with unabated vigor, he seemed to be quite
exhausted, and remained speechless. But in an instant he sprung upon his
feet, notwithstanding at the time he was put in, it appeared impossible
for him to move either his legs or arms, and shaking off his covering,
as quick as if the bands with which it had been bound were burned
asunder, he began to address those who stood around in a firm and
audible voice. “My Brothers,” said he, “the Great Spirit has deigned to
hold a Talk with his servant at my earnest request. He has not, indeed,
told me when the persons we expect will be here, but to-morrow, soon
after the sun has reached his highest point in the heavens, a canoe will
arrive, and the people in that will inform us when the traders will
come.” Having said this, he stepped out of the inclosure, and after he
had put on his robes, dismissed the assembly. I own I was greatly
astonished at what I had seen; but as I observed that every eye in the
company was fixed on me with a view to discover my sentiments, I
carefully concealed every emotion.
The next day the sun shone bright, and long before noon all the Indians
were gathered together on the eminence that overlooked the lake. The old
king came to me and asked me, whether I had so much confidence in what
the priest had foretold, as to join his people on the hill, and wait for
the completion of it? I told him I was at a loss what opinion to form of
the prediction, but that I would readily attend him. On this we walked
together to the place where the others were assembled. Every eye was
again fixed by turns on me and on the lake; when just as the sun had
reached his zenith, agreeable to what the priest had foretold, a canoe
came round a point of land about a league distant. The Indians no sooner
beheld it, than they sent up an universal shout, and by their looks
seemed to triumph in the interest their priest thus evidently had with
the Great Spirit.
In less than an hour the canoe reached the shore, when I attended the
king and chiefs to receive those who were on board. As soon as the men
were landed, we walked all together to the king’s tent, when according
to their invariable custom we began to smoke; and this we did,
notwithstanding our impatience to know the tidings they brought, without
asking any questions; for the Indians are the most deliberate people in
the world. However, after some trivial conversation, the king inquired
of them whether they had seen any thing of the traders? the men replied,
that they had parted from them a few days before, and that they proposed
being here the second day from the present. They accordingly arrived at
that time greatly to our satisfaction, but more particularly so to that
of the Indians, who found by this event the importance both of their
priest and of their nation, greatly augmented in the sight of a
stranger.
This story I acknowledge appears to carry with it marks of great
credulity in the relator. But no one is less tinctured with that
weakness than myself. The circumstances of it I own are of a very
extraordinary nature; however, as I can vouch for their being free from
either exaggeration or misrepresentation, being myself a cool and
dispassionate observer of them all, I thought it necessary to give them
to the public. And this I do without wishing to mislead the judgment of
my Readers, or to make any superstitious impressions on their minds, but
leaving them to draw from it what conclusions they please.
I have already observed that the Assinipoils, with a part of whom I met
here, are a revolted band of the Naudowessies; who on account of some
real or imagined grievances, for the Indians in general are very
tenacious of their liberty, had separated themselves from their
countrymen, and sought for freedom at the expence of their ease. For the
country they now inhabit about the borders of Lake Winnepeek, being much
farther north, is not near so fertile or agreeable as that they have
relinquished. They still retain the language and manners of their former
associates.
The Killistinoes, now the neighbours and allies of the Assinipoils, for
they also dwell near the same Lake and on the waters of the River
Bourbon, appear to have been originally a tribe of the Chipéways, as
they speak their language, though in a different dialect. Their nation
consists of about three or four hundred warriors, and they seem to be a
hardy brave people. I have already given an account of their country
when I treated of Lake Winnepeek. As they reside within the limits of
Hudson’s Bay, they generally trade at the factories which belong to that
Company, but, for the reasons mentioned before, they frequently come to
the place where I happened to join them, in order to meet the traders
from Michillimackinac.
The anxiety I had felt on account of the traders delay, was not much
alleviated by their arrival. I again found my expectations disappointed,
for I was not able to procure the goods I wanted from any of them. I was
therefore obliged to give over my designs, and return to the place from
whence I first began my extensive circuit. I accordingly took leave of
the old king of the Killistinoes, with the chiefs of both bands, and
departed. This prince was upwards of sixty years of age, tall and
slightly made, but he carried himself very erect. He was of a courteous,
affable disposition, and treated me, as did all the chiefs, with great
civility.
I observed that this people still continued a custom, that appeared to
have been universal before any of them became acquainted with the
manners of the Europeans, that of complimenting strangers with the
company of their wives; and this is not only practised by the lower
ranks, but by the chiefs themselves, who esteem it the greatest proof of
courtesy they can give a stranger.
The beginning of October, after having coasted round the north and east
borders of Lake Superior, I arrived at Cadot’s Fort, which adjoins to
the Falls of St. Marie, and is situated near the south-west corner of
it.
Lake Superior, formerly termed the Upper Lake from its northern
situation, is so called on account of its being superior in magnitude to
any of the lakes on that vast continent. It might justly be termed the
Caspian of America, and is supposed to be the largest body of fresh
water on the globe. Its circumference, according to the French charts,
is about fifteen hundred miles; but I believe, that if it was coasted
round, and the utmost extent of every bay taken, it would exceed sixteen
hundred.
After I first entered it from Goddard’s River on the west Bay, I coasted
near twelve hundred miles of the north and east shores of it, and
observed that the greatest part of that extensive tract was bounded by
rocks and uneven ground. The water in general appeared to lie on a bed
of rocks. When it was calm, and the sun shone bright, I could sit in my
canoe, where the depth was upwards of six fathoms, and plainly see huge
piles of stone at the bottom, of different shapes, some of which
appeared as if they were hewn. The water at this time was as pure and
transparent as air; and my canoe seemed as if it hung suspended in that
element. It was impossible to look attentively through this limpid
medium at the rocks below, without finding, before many minutes were
elapsed, your head swim, and your eyes no longer able to behold the
dazzling scene.
I discovered also by accident another extraordinary property in the
waters of this Lake. Though it was in the month of July that I passed
over it, and the surface of the water, from the heat of the superambient
air, impregnated with no small degree of warmth, yet on letting down a
cup to the depth of about a fathom, the water drawn from thence was so
excessively cold, that it had the same effect when received into the
mouth as ice.
The situation of this Lake is variously laid down; but from the most
exact observations I could make, it lies between forty-six and fifty
degrees of north latitude, and between eighty-four and ninety-three
degrees of west longitude from the meridian of London.
There are many islands in this Lake, two of which are very large; and if
the land of them is proper for cultivation, there appears to be
sufficient to form on each a considerable province; especially on Isle
Royal, which cannot be less than an hundred miles long, and in many
places forty broad. But there is no way at present of ascertaining the
exact length or breadth of either. Even the French, who always kept a
small schooner on this lake whilst they were in possession of Canada, by
which they could have made this discovery, have only acquired a slight
knowledge of the external parts of these islands; at least they have
never published any account of the internal parts of them, that I could
get intelligence of.
Nor was I able to discover from any of the conversations which I held
with the neighbouring Indians, that they had ever made any settlements
on them, or even landed there in their hunting excursions. From what I
could gather by their discourse, they suppose them to have been, from
their first information, the residence of the Great Spirit; and relate
many ridiculous stories of enchantment and magical tricks that had been
experienced by such as were obliged through stress of weather to take
shelter on them.
One of the Chipéway chiefs told me, that some of their people being once
driven on the island of Mauropas, which lies towards the north-east part
of the Lake, found on it large quantities of a heavy shining yellow
sand, that from their description must have been gold dust. Being struck
with the beautiful appearance of it, in the morning, when they
re-entered their canoe, they attempted to bring some away; but a spirit
of an amazing size, according to their account sixty feet in height,
strode into the water after them, and commanded them to deliver back
what they had taken away. Terrified at his gigantic stature, and seeing
that he had nearly overtaken them, they were glad to restore their
shining treasure; on which they were suffered to depart without further
molestation. Since this incident, no Indian that has ever heard of it,
will venture near the same haunted coast. Besides this, they recounted
to me many other stories of these islands, equally fabulous.
The country on the north and east parts of Lake Superior is very
mountainous and barren. The weather being intensely cold in the winter,
and the sun having but little power in the summer, vegetation there is
very slow; and consequently but little fruit is to be found on its
shore. It however produces some few species in great abundance.
Whirtleberries of an uncommon size, and fine flavour, grow on the
mountains near the Lake in amazing quantities; as do black currants and
goosberries in the same luxuriant manner.
But the fruit which exceeds all the others, is a berry resembling a
rasberry in its manner of growth, but of a lighter red, and much larger;
its taste is far more delicious than the fruit I have compared it to,
notwithstanding that it is so highly esteemed in Europe: it grows on a
shrub of the nature of a vine, with leaves similar to those of the
grape; and I am persuaded that was it transplanted into a warmer and
more kindly climate, it would prove a most rare and delicious fruit.
Two very large rivers empty themselves into this Lake, on the north and
north-east side; one is called the Nipegon River, or, as the French
pronounce it, the Allanipegon, which leads to a band of the Chipéways,
inhabiting a lake of the same name, and the other is termed the
Michipicooton River, the source of which is situated towards James’s
Bay, from whence there is but a short carriage to another river, which
empties itself into that bay, at a fort belonging to the Company. It was
by this passage that a party of French from Michillimackinac invaded the
settlements of that Society in the reign of Queen Anne. Having taken and
destroyed their forts, they brought the cannon which they found in them
to the fortress from whence they had issued; these were small brass
pieces, and remain there to this present time; having, through the usual
revolutions of fortune, returned to the possession of their former
masters.
Not far from the Nipegon is a small river, that, just before it enters
the Lake, has a perpendicular fall from the top of a mountain, of more
than six hundred feet. Being very narrow, it appears at a distance like
a white garter suspended in the air.
A few Indians inhabit round the eastern borders of this lake, supposed
to be the remains of the Algonkins, who formerly possessed this country,
but who have been nearly extirpated by the Iroquois of Canada. Lake
Superior has near forty rivers that fall into it, some of which are of a
considerable size. On the south side of it is a remarkable point or
cape, of about sixty miles in length, called Point Chegomegan. It might
as properly be termed a peninsula, as it is nearly separated from the
continent, on the east side, by a narrow bay that extends from east to
west. Canoes have but a short portage across the isthmus, whereas if
they coast it round, the voyage is more than an hundred miles.
About that distance to the west of the cape just described, a
considerable river falls into the Lake, the head of which is composed of
a great assemblage of small streams. This river is remarkable for the
abundance of virgin copper that is found on and near its banks. A metal
which is met with also in several other places on this coast. I observed
that many of the small islands, particularly those on the eastern
shores, were covered with copper ore. They appeared like beds of
copperas, of which many tuns lay in a small space.
A company of adventurers from England began, soon after the conquest of
Canada, to bring away some of this metal, but the distracted situation
of affairs in America has obliged them to relinquish their scheme. It
might in future times be made a very advantageous trade, as the metal,
which costs nothing on the spot, and requires but little expence to get
it on board, could be conveyed in boats or canoes through the Falls of
St. Marie to the Isle of St. Joseph, which lies at the bottom of the
Straights near the entrance into Lake Huron; from thence it might be put
on board larger vessels, and in them transported across that Lake to the
Falls of Niagara; there being carried by land across the Portage, it
might be conveyed without much more obstruction to Quebec. The cheapness
and ease with which any quantity of it may be procured, will make up for
the length of way that it is necessary to transport it before it reaches
the sea-coast, and enable the proprietors to send it to foreign markets
on as good terms as it can be exported from other countries.
Lake Superior abounds with variety of fish, the principal and best are
the trout and sturgeon, which may be caught at almost any season in the
greatest abundance. The trouts in general weigh about twelve pounds, but
some are caught that exceed fifty. Besides these, a species of white
fish is taken in great quantities here, that resemble a shad in their
shape, but they are rather thicker, and less bony; they weigh about four
pounds each, and are of a delicious taste. The best way of catching
these fish is with a net; but the trout might be taken at all times with
the hook. There are likewise many sorts of smaller fish in great plenty
here, and which may be taken with ease; among these is a sort resembling
a herring, that are generally made use of as a bait for the trout. Very
small crabs, not larger than half a crown piece, are found both in this
and Lake Michegan.
This Lake is as much affected by storms as the Atlantic Ocean; the waves
run as high, and are equally as dangerous to ships. It discharges its
waters from the south-east corner, through the Straights of St. Marie.
At the upper end of these Straights stands a fort that receives its name
from them, commanded by Mons. Cadot, a French Canadian, who being
proprietor of the soil, is still permitted to keep possession of it.
Near this fort is a very strong rapid, against which, though it is
impossible for canoes to ascend, yet when conducted by careful pilots,
they might pass down without danger.
Though Lake Superior, as I have before observed, is supplied by near
forty rivers, many of which are considerable ones, yet it does not
appear that one-tenth part of the waters which are conveyed into it by
these rivers are carried off at this evacuation. How such a
superabundance of water can be disposed of, as it must certainly be by
some means or other, without which the circumference of the lake would
be continually enlarging, I know not: that it does not empty itself, as
the Mediterranean Sea is supposed to do, by an under current, which
perpetually counteracts that near the surface, is certain; for the
stream which falls over the rock is not more than five or six feet in
depth, and the whole of it passes on through the Straights into the
adjacent lake; nor is it probable that so great a quantity can be
absorbed by exhalations; consequently they must find a passage through
some subterranean cavities, deep, unfathomable, and never to be
explored.
The Falls of St. Marie do not descend perpendicularly as those of
Niagara or St. Anthony do, but consist of a rapid which continues near
three quarters of a mile, over which canoes well piloted might pass.
At the bottom of these Falls, Nature has formed a most commodious
station for catching the fish which are to be found there in immense
quantities. Persons standing on the rocks that lie adjacent to it, may
take with dipping nets, about the months of September and October, the
white fish before mentioned; at that season, together with several other
species, they croud up to this spot in such amazing shoals, that enough
may be taken to supply, when properly cured, thousands of inhabitants
throughout the year.
The Straights of St. Marie are about forty miles long, bearing
south-east, but varying much in their breadth. The current between the
Falls and Lake Huron is not so rapid as might be expected, nor do they
prevent the navigation of ships of burden as far up as the island of St.
Joseph.
It has been observed by travellers that the entrance into Lake Superior,
from these Straights, affords one of the most pleasing prospects in the
world. The place in which this might be viewed to the greatest
advantage, is just at the opening of the lake, from whence may be seen
on the left, many beautiful little islands that extend a considerable
way before you; and on the right, an agreeable succession of small
points of land, that project a little way into the water, and
contribute, with the islands, to render this delightful bason (as it
might be termed) calm and secure from the ravages of those tempestuous
winds by which the adjoining lake is frequently troubled.
Lake Huron, into which you now enter from the Straights of St. Marie, is
the next in magnitude to Lake Superior. It lies between forty-two and
forty-six degrees of north latitude, and seventy-nine and eighty-five
degrees of west longitude. Its shape is nearly triangular, and its
circumference about one thousand miles.
On the north side of it lies an island that is remarkable for being near
an hundred miles in length, and no more than eight miles broad. This
island is known by the name of Manataulin, which signifies a Place of
Spirits, and is considered by the Indians as sacred as those already
mentioned in Lake Superior.
About the middle of the south-west side of this lake is Saganaum Bay.
The capes that separate this bay from the lake, are about eighteen miles
distant from each other; near the middle of the intermediate space stand
two islands, which greatly tend to facilitate the passage of canoes and
small vessels, by affording them shelter, as without this security it
would not be prudent to venture across so wide a sea; and the coasting
round the bay would make the voyage long and tedious. This bay is about
eighty miles in length, and in general about eighteen or twenty miles
broad.
Nearly half way between Saganaum Bay and the north-west corner of the
Lake lies another, which is termed Thunder Bay. The Indians, who have
frequented these parts from time immemorial, and every European
traveller that has passed through it, have unanimously agreed to call it
by this name, on account of the continual thunder they have always
observed here. The bay is about nine miles broad, and the same in
length, and whilst I was passing over it, which took me up near
twenty-four hours, it thundered and lightened during the greatest part
of the time to an excessive degree.
There appeared to be no visible reason for this that I could discover,
nor is the country in general subject to thunder; the hills that stood
around were not of a remarkable height, neither did the external parts
of them seem to be covered with any sulphureous substance. But as this
phænomenon must originate from some natural cause, I conjecture that the
shores of the bay, or the adjacent mountains, are either impregnated
with an uncommon quantity of sulphureous matter, or contain some metal
or mineral apt to attract in a great degree the electrical particles
that are hourly borne over them by the passant clouds. But the solution
of this, and those other philosophical remarks which casually occur
throughout these pages, I leave to the discussion of abler heads.
The fish in Lake Huron are much the same as those in Lake Superior. Some
of the land on its banks is very fertile, and proper for cultivation,
but in other parts it is sandy and barren. The promontory that separates
this lake from Lake Michegan, is composed of a vast plain, upwards of
one hundred miles long, but varying in its breadth, being from ten to
fifteen miles broad. This track, as I have before observed, is divided
into almost an equal portion between the Ottowaw and Chipéway Indians.
At the north-east corner this lake has a communication with Lake
Michegan, by the Straights of Michillimackinac already described.
I had like to have omitted a very extraordinary circumstance relative to
these Straights. According to observations made by the French, whilst
they were in possession of the fort, although there is no diurnal flood
or ebb to be perceived in these waters, yet, from an exact attention to
their state, a periodical alteration in them has been discovered. It was
observed that they arose by gradual, but almost imperceptible degrees
till they had reached the height of about three feet. This was
accomplished in seven years and a half; and in the same space they as
gently decreased, till they had reached their former situation; so that
in fifteen years they had completed this inexplicable revolution. At the
time I was there the truth of these observations could not be confirmed
by the English, as they had then been only a few years in possession of
the fort; but they all agreed that some alteration in the limits of the
Straights was apparent. All these lakes are so affected by the winds, as
sometimes to have the appearance of a tide, according as they happen to
blow; but this is only temporary and partial.
A great number of the Chipéway Indians live scattered around this Lake,
particularly near Saganaum Bay. On its banks are found an amazing
quantity of the sand cherries, and in the adjacent country nearly the
same fruits as those that grow about the other lakes.
From the Falls of St. Marie I leisurely proceeded back to
Michillimackinac, and arrived there the beginning of November 1767,
having been fourteen months on this extensive tour, travelled near four
thousand miles, and visited twelve nations of Indians lying to the west
and north of this place. The winter setting in soon after my arrival, I
was obliged to tarry there till the June following, the navigation over
Lake Huron for large vessels not being open, on account of the ice, till
that time. Meeting here with sociable company, I passed these months
very agreeably, and without finding the hours tedious.
One of my chief amusements was that of fishing for trouts. Though the
Straights were covered with ice, we found means to make holes through
it, and letting down strong lines of fifteen yards in length, to which
were fixed three or four hooks baited with the small fish before
described, we frequently caught two at a time of forty pounds weight
each; but the common size is from ten to twenty pounds. These are most
delicious food. The method of preserving them during the three months
the winter generally lasts, is by hanging them up in the air; and in one
night they will be frozen so hard, that they will keep as well as if
they were cured with salt.
I have only pointed out in the plan of my travels the circuit I made
from my leaving Michillimackinac till I arrived again at that fort.
Those countries that lie nearer to the colonies have been so often and
so minutely described, that any further account of them would be
useless. I shall therefore only give my Readers in the remainder of my
journal, as I at first proposed, a description of the other great lakes
of Canada, many of which I have navigated over, and relate at the same
time a few particular incidents that I trust will not be found
inapplicable or unentertaining.
In June 1768 I left Michillimackinac, and returned in the Gladwyn
Schooner, a vessel of about eighty tons burthen, over Lake Huron to Lake
St. Claire, where we left the ship, and proceeded in boats to Detroit.
This lake is about ninety miles in circumference, and by the way of
Huron River, which runs from the south corner of Lake Huron, receives
the waters of the three great lakes, Superior, Michegan, and Huron. Its
form is rather round, and in some places it is deep enough for the
navigation of large vessels, but towards the middle of it there is a bar
of sand, which prevents those that are loaded from passing over it. Such
as are in ballast only may find water sufficient to carry them quite
through; the cargoes, however, of such as are freighted must be taken
out, and after being transported across the bar in boats, reshipped
again.
The river that runs from Lake St. Claire to Lake Erie (or rather the
Straight, for thus it might be termed from its name) is called Detroit,
which is in French, the Straight. It runs nearly south, has a gentle
current, and depth of water sufficient for ships of considerable
burthen. The town of Detroit is situated on the western banks of this
river, about nine miles below Lake St. Claire.
Almost opposite, on the eastern shore, is the village of the ancient
Hurons: a tribe of Indians which have been treated of by so many
writers, that adhering to the restrictions I have laid myself under of
only describing places and people little known, or incidents that have
passed unnoticed by others, I shall omit giving a description of them. A
missionary of the order of Carthusian Friars, by permission of the
bishop of Canada, resides among them.
The banks of the River Detroit, both above and below these towns, are
covered with settlements that extend more than twenty miles; the country
being exceedingly fruitful, and proper for the cultivation of wheat,
Indian corn, oats, and peas. It has also many spots of fine pasturage;
but as the inhabitants, who are chiefly French that submitted to the
English government after the conquest of these parts by General Amherst,
are more attentive to the Indian trade than to farming, it is but badly
cultivated.
The town of Detroit contains upwards of one hundred houses. The streets
are somewhat regular, and have a range of very convenient and handsome
barracks, with a spacious parade at the south end. On the west side lies
the King’s garden belonging to the governor, which is very well laid out
and kept in good order. The fortifications of the town consist of a
strong stockade made of round piles, fixed firmly in the ground, and
lined with palisades. These are defended by some small bastions, on
which are mounted a few indifferent cannon of an inconsiderable size,
just sufficient for its defence against the Indians, or an enemy not
provided with artillery.
The garrison, in time of peace, consists of two hundred men commanded by
a field officer, who acts as chief magistrate under the governor of
Canada. Mr. Turnbull, captain of the 60th regiment, or Royal Americans,
was commandant when I happened to be there. This gentleman was
deservedly esteemed and respected, both by the inhabitants and traders,
for the propriety of his conduct; and I am happy to have an opportunity
of thus publickly making my acknowledgments to him, for the civilities I
received from him during my stay.
In the year 1762, in the month of July, it rained on this town and the
parts adjacent, a sulphureous water of the colour and consistence of
ink; some of which being collected into bottles, and wrote with appeared
perfectly intelligible on the paper, and answered every purpose of that
useful liquid. Soon after, the Indian wars already spoken of, broke out
in these parts. I mean not to say that this incident was ominous of
them, notwithstanding it is well known that innumerable well attested
instances of extraordinary phænomena happening before extraordinary
events, have been recorded in almost every age by historians of
veracity; I only relate the circumstances as a fact of which I was
informed by many persons of undoubted probity, and leave my Readers, as
I have hitherto done, to draw their own conclusions from it.
Pontiac, under whom the party that surprized Fort Michillimackinac, as
related in the former part of this work, acted, was an enterprizing
chief or head-warrior of the Miames. During the late war between the
English and the French he had been a steady friend to the latter, and
continued his inveteracy to the former even after peace had been
concluded between these two nations. Unwilling to put an end to the
depredations he had been so long engaged in, he collected an army of
confederate Indians, consisting of the nations before enumerated, with
an intention to renew the war. However, instead of openly attacking the
English settlements, he laid a scheme for taking by surprize those forts
on the extremities which they had lately gained possession of.
How well the party he detached to take Fort Michillimackinac succeeded,
the Reader already knows. To get into his hands Detroit, a place of
greater consequence, and much better guarded, required greater
resolution, and more consummate art. He of course took the management of
this expedition on himself, and drew near it with the principal body of
his troops. He was however prevented from carrying his designs into
execution by an apparently trivial and unforeseen circumstance. On such
does the fate of mighty Empires frequently depend!
The town of Detroit, when Pontiac formed his plan, was garrisoned by
about three hundred men commanded by Major Gladwyn, a gallant officer.
As at that time every appearance of war was at an end, and the Indians
seemed to be on a friendly footing, Pontiac approached the Fort, without
exciting any suspicions in the breast of the governor or the
inhabitants. He encamped at a little distance from it, and sent to let
the commandant know that he was come to trade; and being desirous of
brightening the chain of peace between the English and his nation,
desired that he and his chiefs may be admitted to hold a council with
him. The governor still unsuspicious, and not in the least doubting the
sincerity of the Indians, granted their general’s request, and fixed on
the next morning for their reception.
The evening of that day, an Indian woman who had been employed by Major
Gladwyn to make him a pair of Indian shoes, out of curious elk-skin,
brought them home. The Major was so pleased with them, that, intending
these as a present for a friend, he ordered her to take the remainder
back, and make it into others for himself. He then directed his servant
to pay her for those she had done, and dismissed her. The woman went to
the door that led to the street, but no further; she there loitered
about as if she had not finished the business on which she came. A
servant at length observed her, and asked her why she staid there; she
gave him, however, no answer.
Some short time after, the governor himself saw her; and enquired of his
servant what occasioned her stay. Not being able to get a satisfactory
answer, he ordered the woman to be called in. When she came into his
presence he desired to know what was the reason of her loitering about,
and not hastening home before the gates were shut, that she might
complete in due time the work he had given her to do. She told him,
after much hesitation, that as he had always behaved with great goodness
towards her, she was unwilling to take away the remainder of the skin,
because he put so great a value upon it; and yet had not been able to
prevail upon herself to tell him so. He then asked her, why she was more
reluctant to do so now, than she had been when she made the former pair.
With increased reluctance she answered, that she never should be able to
bring them back.
His curiosity being now excited, he insisted on her disclosing to him
the secret that seemed to be struggling in her bosom for utterance. At
last, on receiving a promise that the intelligence she was about to give
him should not turn to her prejudice, and that if it appeared to be
beneficial she should be rewarded for it, she informed him, that at the
council to be held with the Indians the following day, Pontiac and his
chiefs intended to murder him; and, after having massacred the garrison
and inhabitants, to plunder the town. That for this purpose all the
chiefs who were to be admitted into the council-room had cut their guns
short, so that they could conceal them under their blankets; with which,
at a signal given by their general on delivering the belt, they were all
to rise up, and instantly to fire on him and his attendants. Having
effected this, they were immediately to rush into the town, where they
would find themselves supported by a great number of their warriors,
that were to come into it during the sitting of the council, under
pretence of trading, but privately armed in the same manner. Having
gained from the woman every necessary particular relative to the plot,
and also the means by which she acquired a knowledge of them, he
dismissed her with injunctions of secrecy, and a promise of fulfilling
on his part with punctuality the engagements he had entered into.
The intelligence the governor had just received, gave him great
uneasiness; and he immediately consulted the officer who was next to him
in command on the subject. But that gentleman considering the
information as a story invented for some artful purposes, advised him to
pay no attention to it. This conclusion however had happily no weight
with him. He thought it prudent to conclude it to be true, till he was
convinced that it was not so; and therefore, without revealing his
suspicions to any other person, he took every needful precaution that
the time would admit of. He walked round the fort during the whole
night, and saw himself that every centinel was on duty, and every weapon
of defence in proper order.
As he traversed the ramparts which lay nearest to the Indian camp, he
heard them in high festivity, and, little imagining that their plot was
discovered, probably pleasing themselves with the anticipation of their
success. As soon as the morning dawned, he ordered all the garrison
under arms; and then imparting his apprehensions to a few of the
principal officers, gave them such directions as he thought necessary.
At the same time he sent round to all the traders, to inform them, that
as it was expected a great number of Indians would enter the town that
day, who might be inclined to plunder, he desired they would have their
arms ready, and repel every attempt of that kind.
About ten o’clock, Pontiac and his chiefs arrived; and were conducted to
the council-chamber, where the governor and his principal officers, each
with pistols in their belts, awaited his arrival. As the Indians passed
on, they could not help observing that a greater number of troops than
usual were drawn up on the parade, or marching about. No sooner were
they entered, and seated on the skins prepared for them, than Pontiac
asked the governor on what occasion his young men, meaning the soldiers,
were thus drawn up, and parading the streets. He received for answer,
that it was only intended to keep them perfect in their exercise.
The Indian chief-warrior now began his speech, which contained the
strongest professions of friendship and good-will towards the English;
and when he came to the delivery of the belt of wampum, the particular
mode of which, according to the woman’s information, was to be the
signal for his chiefs to fire, the governor and all his attendants drew
their swords half-way out of their scabbards; and the soldiers at the
same instant made a clattering with their arms before the doors, which
had been purposely left open. Pontiac, though one of the boldest of men,
immediately turned pale, and trembled; and instead of giving the belt in
the manner proposed, delivered it according to the usual way. His
chiefs, who had impatiently expected the signal, looked at each other
with astonishment, but continued quiet, waiting the result.
The governor in his turn made a speech; but instead of thanking the
great warrior for the professions of friendship he had just uttered, he
accused him of being a traitor. He told him that the English, who knew
every thing, were convinced of his treachery and villainous designs; and
as a proof that they were well acquainted with his most secret thoughts
and intentions, he stepped towards the Indian chief that sat nearest to
him, and drawing aside his blanket discovered the shortened firelock.
This entirely disconcerted the Indians, and frustrated their design.
He then continued to tell them, that as he had given his word at the
time they desired an audience, that their persons should be safe, he
would hold his promise inviolable, though they so little deserved it.
However he advised them to make the best of their way out of the fort,
lest his young men, on being acquainted with their treacherous purposes,
should cut every one of them to pieces. Pontiac endeavoured to
contradict the accusation, and to make excuses for his suspicious
conduct; but the governor, satisfied of the falsity of his
protestations, would not listen to him. The Indians immediately left the
fort, but instead of being sensible of the governor’s generous
behaviour, they threw off the mask, and the next day made a regular
attack upon it.
Major Gladwyn has not escaped censure for this mistaken lenity; for
probably had he kept a few of the principal chiefs prisoners, whilst he
had them in his power, he might have been able to have brought the whole
confederacy to terms, and have prevented a war. But he atoned for this
oversight, by the gallant defence he made for more than a year, amidst a
variety of discouragements.
During that period some very smart skirmishes happened between the
besiegers and the garrison, of which the following was the principal and
most bloody. Captain Delzel, a brave officer, prevailed on the governor
to give him the command of about two hundred men, and to permit him to
attack the enemy’s camp. This being complied with, he sallied from the
town before day-break; but Pontiac, receiving from some of his
swift-footed warriors, who were constantly employed in watching the
motions of the garrison, timely intelligence of their design, he
collected together the choicest of his troops, and met the detachment at
some distance from his camp, near a place since called Bloody-Bridge. As
the Indians were vastly superior in numbers to captain Delzel’s party,
he was soon overpowered and driven back. Being now nearly surrounded, he
made a vigorous effort to regain the bridge he had just crossed, by
which alone he could find a retreat; but in doing this he lost his life,
and many of his men fell with him. However, Major Rogers, the second in
command, assisted by Lieutenant Breham, found means to draw off the
shattered remains of their little army, and conducted them into the
fort.
Thus considerably reduced, it was with difficulty the Major could defend
the town; notwithstanding which, he held out against the Indians till he
was relieved, as after this they made but few attacks on the place, and
only continued to blockade it.
The Gladwyn Schooner (that in which I afterwards took my passage from
Michillimackinac to Detroit, and which I since learn was lost with all
her crew on Lake Erie, through the obstinacy of the commander, who could
not be prevailed upon to take in sufficient ballast) arrived about this
time near the town with a reinforcement and necessary supplies. But
before this vessel could reach the place of its destination, it was most
vigorously attacked by a detachment from Pontiac’s army. The Indians
surrounded it in their canoes, and made great havock among the crew. At
length the captain of the schooner with a considerable number of his men
being killed, and the savages beginning to climb up its sides from every
quarter, the Lieutenant (Mr. Jacobs, who afterwards commanded, and was
lost in it) being determined that the stores should not fall into the
enemy’s hands, and seeing no other alternative, ordered the gunner to
set fire to the powder-room, and blow the ship up. This order was on the
point of being executed, when a chief of the Hurons, who understood the
English language, gave out to his friends the intention of the
commander. On receiving this intelligence the Indians hurried down the
sides of the ship with the greatest precipitation, and got as far from
it as possible; whilst the commander immediately took advantage of their
consternation, and arrived without any further obstruction at the town.
This seasonable supply gave the garrison fresh spirits; and Pontiac
being now convinced that it would not be in his power to reduce the
place, proposed an accommodation; the governor wishing as much to get
rid of such troublesome enemies, who obstructed the intercourse of the
traders with the neighbouring nations, listened to his proposals, and
having procured advantageous terms, agreed to a peace. The Indians soon
after separated, and returned to their different provinces; nor have
they since thought proper to disturb, at least in any great degree, the
tranquillity of these parts.
Pontiac henceforward seemed to have laid aside the animosity he had
hitherto borne towards the English, and apparently became their zealous
friend. To reward this new attachment, and to insure a continuance of
it, government allowed him a handsome pension. But his restless and
intriguing spirit would not suffer him to be grateful for this
allowance, and his conduct, at length grew suspicious; so that going, in
the year 1767, to hold a council in the country of the Illinois, a
faithful Indian, who was either commissioned by one of the English
governors, or instigated by the love he bore the English nation,
attended him as a spy; and being convinced from the speech Pontiac made
in the council that he still retained his former prejudices against
those for whom he now professed a friendship, he plunged his knife into
his heart, as soon as he had done speaking, and laid him dead on the
spot.
But to return from this digression.
Lake Erie receives the waters by which it is supplied from the three
great lakes, through the Straights of Detroit, that lie at its
north-west corner. This Lake is situated between forty-one and
forty-three degrees of north latitude, and between seventy-eight and
eighty-three degrees of west longitude. It is near three hundred miles
long from east to west, and about forty in its broadest part: and a
remarkable long narrow point lies on its north side, that projects for
several miles into the lake towards the south-east.
There are several islands near the west end of it so infested with
rattle-snakes, that it is very dangerous to land on them. It is
impossible that any place can produce a greater number of all kinds of
these reptiles than this does, particularly of the water-snake. The Lake
is covered near the banks of the islands with the large pond-lily; the
leaves of which lie on the surface of the water so thick, as to cover it
entirely for many acres together; and on each of these lay, when I
passed over it, wreaths of water-snakes basking in the sun, which
amounted to myriads.
The most remarkable of the different species that infest this Lake, is
the hissing-snake, which is of the small speckled kind, and about
eighteen inches long. When any thing approaches, it flattens itself in a
moment, and its spots, which are of various dyes, become visibly
brighter through rage; at the same time it blows from its mouth with
great force a subtile wind, that is reported to be of a nauseous smell;
and if drawn in with the breath of the unwary traveller, will infallibly
bring on a decline, that in a few months must prove mortal, there being
no remedy yet discovered which can counteract its baneful influence.
The stones and pebbles on the shores of this Lake are most of them
tinged, in a greater or less degree, with spots that resemble brass in
their colour, but which are of a sulphureous nature. Small pieces, about
the size of hazle-nuts, of the same kinds of ore, are found on the lands
that lie on its banks, and under the water.
The navigation of this Lake is esteemed more dangerous than any of the
others on account of many high lands that lie on the borders of it, and
project into the water in a perpendicular direction for many miles
together; so that whenever sudden storms arise, canoes and boats are
frequently lost, as there is no place for them to find a shelter.
This Lake discharges its waters at the north-east end, into the River
Niagara, which runs north and south, and is about thirty-six miles in
length; from whence it falls into Lake Ontario. At the entrance of this
river, on its eastern shore, lies Fort Niagara; and, about eighteen
miles further up, those remarkable Falls which are esteemed one of the
most extraordinary productions of nature at present known.
As these have been visited by so many travellers, and so frequently
described, I shall omit giving a particular description of them, and
only observe, that the waters by which they are supplied, after taking
their rise near two thousand miles to the north-west, and passing
through the Lakes Superior, Michegan, Huron, and Erie, during which they
have been receiving constant accumulations, at length rush down a
stupendous precipice of one hundred and forty feet perpendicular; and in
a strong rapid, that extends to the distance of eight or nine miles
below, fall nearly as much more: this River soon after empties itself
into Lake Ontario.
The noise of these Falls might be heard an amazing way. I could plainly
distinguish them in a calm morning more than twenty miles. Others have
said that at particular times, and when the wind sits fair, the sound of
them reaches fifteen leagues.
The land about the Falls is exceedingly hilly and uneven, but the
greatest part of that on the Niagara River is very good, especially for
grass and pasturage.
Fort Niagara stands nearly at the entrance of the west end of Lake
Ontario, and on the east part of the Straights of Niagara. It was taken
from the French in the year 1759, by the forces under the command of Sir
William Johnson, and at present is defended by a considerable garrison.
Lake Ontario is the next, and least of the five great Lakes of Canada.
Its situation is between forty-three and forty-five degrees of latitude,
and between seventy-six and seventy-nine degrees of west longitude. The
form of it is nearly oval, its greatest length being from north-east to
south-west, and in circumference, about six hundred miles. Near the
south-east part it receives the waters of the Oswego River, and on the
north-east discharges itself into the River Cataraqui. Not far from the
place where it issues, Fort Frontenac formerly stood, which was taken
from the French during the last war, in the year 1758, by a small army
of Provincials under Colonel Bradstreet.
At the entrance of Oswego River stands a fort of the same name,
garrisoned only at present by an inconsiderable party. This fort was
taken in the year 1756 by the French, when a great part of the garrison,
which consisted of the late Shirley’s and Pepperil’s regiments, were
massacred in cold blood by the savages.
In Lake Ontario are taken many sorts of fish, among which is the Oswego
Bass, of an excellent flavour, and weighing about three or four pounds.
There is also a sort called the Cat-head or Pout, which are in general
very large, some of them weighing eight or ten pounds; and they are
esteemed a rare dish when properly dressed.
On the north-west parts of this Lake, and to the south-east of Lake
Huron, is a tribe of Indians called the Missisauges, whose town is
denominated Toronto, from the lake on which it lies; but they are not
very numerous. The country about Lake Ontario, especially the more north
and eastern parts, is composed of good land, and in time may make very
flourishing settlements.
The Oniada Lake, situated near the head of the River Oswego, receives
the waters of Wood-Creek, which takes its rise not far from the Mohawks
River. These two lie so adjacent to each other, that a junction is
effected by sluices at Fort Stanwix, about twelve miles from the mouth
of the former. This Lake is about thirty miles long from east to west,
and near fifteen broad. The country around it belongs to the Oniada
Indians.
Lake Champlain, the next in size to Lake Ontario, and which lies nearly
east from it, is about eighty miles in length, north and south, and in
its broadest part fourteen. It is well stored with fish, and the lands
that lie on all the borders of it, or about its rivers, very good.
Lake George, formerly called by the French Lake St. Sacrament, lies to
the south-west of the last-mentioned lake, and is about thirty-five
miles long from north-east to south-west, but of no great breadth. The
country around it is very mountainous, but in the vallies the land is
tolerably good.
When these two lakes were first discovered, they were known by no other
name than that of the Iroquois Lakes; and I believe in the first plans
taken of those parts were so denominated. The Indians also that were
then called the Iroquois, are since known by the name of the Five Mohawk
Nations, and the Mohawks of Canada. In the late war, the former, which
consist of the Onondagoes, the Oniadas, the Senecas, the Tuscarories,
and Iroondocks, fought on the side of the English: the latter, which are
called the Cohnawaghans, and St. Francis Indians, joined the French.
A vast tract of land that lies between the two last-mentioned lakes and
Lake Ontario, was granted in the year 1629 by the Plymouth Company,
under a patent they had received from King James I. to Sir Ferdinando
Gorges, and to Captain John Mason, the head of that family, afterwards
distinguished from others of the same name by the Masons of Connecticut.
The countries specified in this grant are said to begin ten miles from
the heads of the rivers that run from the east and south into Lake
George and Lake Champlain; and continuing from these in a direct line
westward, extend to the middle of Lake Ontario; from thence, being
bounded by the Cataraqui, or the River of the Iroquois, they take their
course through Montreal, as far as Fort Sorrell, which lies at the
junction of this river with the Richlieu; and from that point are
inclosed by the last-mentioned river till it returns back to the two
lakes.
This immense space was granted, by the name of the Province of Laconia,
to the aforesaid gentlemen on specified conditions, and under certain
penalties; but none of these amounted, in case of omission in the
fulfillment of any part of them, to forfeiture, a fine only could be
exacted.
On account of the continual wars to which these parts have been subject,
from their situation between the settlements of the English, the French,
and the Indians, this grant has been suffered to lie dormant by the real
proprietors. Notwithstanding which, several towns have been settled
since the late war, on the borders of Lake Champlain, and grants made to
different people by the governor of New York of part of these
territories, which are now become annexed to that province.
There are a great number of lakes on the north of Canada, between
Labrador, Lake Superior, and Hudson’s Bay, but these are comparatively
small. As they lie out of the track that I pursued, I shall only give a
summary account of them. The most westerly of these are the Lakes
Nipising and Tamiscaming. The first lies at the head of the French
River, and runs into Lake Huron; the other on the Ottowaw River, which
empties itself into the Cataraqui, at Montreal. These lakes are each
about one hundred miles in circumference.
The next is Lake Mistassin, on the head of Rupert’s River, that falls
into James’s Bay. This Lake is so irregular from the large points of
land by which it is intersected on every side, that it is difficult
either to describe its shape, or to ascertain its size. It however
appears on the whole to be more than two hundred miles in circumference.
Lake St. John, which is about eighty miles round, and of a circular
form, lies on the Saguenay River, directly north of Quebec, and falls
into the St. Lawrence, somewhat north-east of that city. Lake
Manikouagone lies near the head of the Black River, which empties itself
into the St. Lawrence to the eastward of the last-mentioned river, near
the coast of Labrador, and is about sixty miles in circumference. Lake
Pertibi, Lake Wincktagan, Lake Etchelaugon, and Lake Papenouagane, with
a number of other small lakes, lie near the heads of the Bustard River
to the north of the St. Lawrence. Many others, which it is unnecessary
to particularize here, are also found between the Lakes Huron and
Ontario.
The whole of those I have enumerated, amounting to upwards of twenty,
are within the limits of Canada; and from this account it might be
deduced, that the northern parts of North America, through these
numerous inland seas, contain a greater quantity of water than any other
quarter of the globe.
In October 1768 I arrived at Boston, having been absent from it on this
expedition two years and five months, and during that time travelled
near seven thousand miles. From thence, as soon as I had properly
digested my Journal and Charts, I set out for England, to communicate
the discoveries I had made, and to render them beneficial to the
kingdom. But the prosecution of my plans for reaping these advantages
have hitherto been obstructed by the unhappy divisions that have been
fomented between Great Britain and the Colonies by their mutual enemies.
Should peace once more be restored, I doubt not but that the countries I
have described will prove a more abundant source of riches to this
nation than either its East or West Indian settlements; and I shall not
only pride myself, but sincerely rejoice in being the means of pointing
out to it so valuable an acquisition.
I cannot conclude the account of my extensive travels, without
expressing my gratitude to that beneficent Being who invisibly protected
me through those perils which unavoidably attended so long a tour among
fierce and untutored savages.
At the same time let me not be accused of vanity or presumption, if I
declare that the motives alledged in the Introduction of this work, were
not the only ones that induced me to engage in this arduous undertaking.
My views were not solely confined to the advantages that might accrue,
either to myself, or the community to which I belonged; but nobler
purposes contributed principally to urge me on.
The confined state, both with regard to civil and religious
improvements, in which so many of my fellow creatures remained, aroused
within my bosom an irresistible inclination to explore the almost
unknown regions which they inhabited; and, as a preparatory step towards
the introduction of more polished manners, and more humane sentiments,
to gain a knowledge of their language, customs, and principles.
I confess that the little benefit too many of the Indian nations have
hitherto received from their intercourse with those who denominate
themselves Christians, did not tend to encourage my charitable purposes;
yet, as many, though not the generality, might receive some benefit from
the introduction among them of the policy and religion of the Europeans,
without retaining only the errors or vices that from the depravity and
perversion of their professors are unhappily attendant on these, I
determined to persevere.
Nor could I flatter myself that I should be able to accomplish alone
this great design; however, I was willing to contribute as much as lay
in my power towards it. In all public undertakings would every one do
this, and furnish with alacrity his particular share towards it, what
stupendous works might not be completed.
It is true that the Indians are not without some sense of religion, and
such as proves that they worship the Great Creator with a degree of
purity unknown to nations who have greater opportunities of improvement;
but their religious principles are far from being so faultless as
described by a learned writer, or unmixed with opinions and ceremonies
that greatly lessen their excellency in this point. So that could the
doctrines of genuine and vital Christianity be introduced among them,
pure and untainted as it flowed from the lips of its Divine Institutor,
it would certainly tend to clear away that superstitious or idolatrous
dross by which the rationality of their religious tenets are obscured.
Its mild and beneficent precepts would likewise conduce to soften their
implacable dispositions, and to refine their savage manners; an event
most desirable; and happy shall I esteem myself if this publication
shall prove the means of pointing out the path by which salutary
instructions may be conveyed to them, and the conversion, though but of
a few, be the consequence.
Conclusion of the JOURNAL, &c.
OF THE
ORIGIN, MANNERS, CUSTOMS,
RELIGION, AND LANGUAGE
OF THE
INDIANS.
CHAPTER I.
_Of their_ ORIGIN.
THE means by which America received its first Inhabitants, have, since
the time of its discovery by the Europeans, been the subject of
numberless disquisitions. Was I to endeavour to collect the different
opinions and reasonings of the various writers that have taken up the
pen in defence of their conjectures, the enumeration would much exceed
the bounds I have prescribed myself, and oblige me to be less explicit
on points of greater moment.
From the obscurity in which this debate is enveloped, through the total
disuse of letters among every nation of Indians on this extensive
continent, and the uncertainty of oral tradition at the distance of so
many ages, I fear, that even after the most minute investigation we
shall not be able to settle it with any great degree of certainty. And
this apprehension will receive additional force, when it is considered
that the diversity of language which is apparently distinct between most
of the Indians, tends to ascertain that this population was not effected
from one particular country, but from several neighbouring ones, and
completed at different periods.
Most of the historians or travellers that have treated on the American
Aborigines disagree in their sentiments relative to them. Many of the
ancients are supposed to have known that this quarter of the globe not
only existed, but also that it was inhabited. Plato in his Timæus has
asserted, that beyond the island which he calls Atalantis, and which
according to his description was situated in the western Ocean, there
were a great number of other islands, and behind those a vast Continent.
Oviedo, a celebrated Spanish author of a much later date, has made no
scruple to affirm that the Antilles are the famous Hesperides so often
mentioned by the poets; which are at length restored to the kings of
Spain, the descendants of King Hesperus, who lived upwards of three
thousand years ago, and from whom these islands received their name.
Two other Spaniards, the one, Father Gregorio Garcia, a Dominican, the
other, Father Joseph De Acosta, a Jesuit, have written on the origin of
the Americans.
The former, who had been employed in the missions of Mexico and Peru,
endeavoured to prove from the traditions of the Mexicans, Peruvians, and
others, which he received on the spot, and from the variety of
characters, customs, languages, and religion observable in the different
countries of the new world, that different nations had contributed to
the peopling of it.
The latter, Father De Acosta, in his examination of the means by which
the first Indians of America might have found a passage to that
continent, discredits the conclusions of those who have supposed it to
be by sea, because no ancient author has made mention of the compass:
and concludes, that it must be either by the north of Asia and Europe,
which adjoin to each other, or by those regions that lie to the
southward of the Straights of Magellan. He also rejects the assertions
of such as have advanced that it was peopled by the Hebrews.
John De Laët, a Flemish writer, has controverted the opinions of these
Spanish fathers, and of many others who have written on the same
subject. The hypothesis he endeavours to establish, is, that America was
certainly peopled by the Scythians or Tartars; and that the
transmigration of these people happened soon after the dispersion of
Noah’s grandsons. He undertakes to show, that the most northern
Americans have a greater resemblance, not only in the features of their
countenances, but also in their complexion and manner of living, to the
Scythians, Tartars, and Samoeides, than to any other nations.
In answer to Grotius, who had asserted that some of the Norwegians
passed into America by way of Greenland, and over a vast continent, he
says, that it is well known that Greenland was not discovered till the
year 964; and both Gomera and Herrera inform us that the Chichimeques
were settled on the Lake of Mexico in 721. He adds, that these savages,
according to the uniform tradition of the Mexicans who dispossessed
them, came from the country since called New Mexico, and from the
neighbourhood of California; consequently North America must have been
inhabited many ages before it could receive any inhabitants from Norway
by way of Greenland.
It is no less certain, he observes, that the real Mexicans founded their
empire in 902, after having subdued the Chichimeques, the Otomias, and
other barbarous nations, who had taken possession of the country round
the Lake of Mexico, and each of whom spoke a language peculiar to
themselves. The real Mexicans are likewise supposed to come from some of
the countries that lie near California, and that they performed their
journey for the most part by land; of course they could not come from
Norway.
De Laët further adds, that though some of the inhabitants of North
America may have entered it from the north-west, yet, as it is related
by Pliny and some other writers, that on many of the islands near the
western coast of Africa, particularly on the Canaries, some ancient
edifices were seen, it is highly probable from their being now deserted,
that the inhabitants may have passed over to America; the passage being
neither long nor difficult. This migration, according to the calculation
of those authors, must have happened more than two thousand years ago,
at a time when the Spaniards were much troubled by the Carthaginians;
from whom having obtained a knowledge of Navigation, and the
construction of ships, they might have retired to the Antilles, by the
way of the western isles, which were exactly half way on their voyage.
He thinks also that Great Britain, Ireland, and the Orcades were
extremely proper to admit of a similar conjecture. As a proof, he
inserts the following passage from the History of Wales, written by Dr.
David Powel in the year 1170.
This historian says, that Madoc, one of the sons of Prince Owen
Gwynnith, being disgusted at the civil wars which broke out between his
brothers, after the death of their father, fitted out several vessels,
and having provided them with every thing necessary for a long voyage,
went in quest of new lands to the westward of Ireland; there he
discovered very fertile countries, but destitute of inhabitants; when
landing part of his people, he returned to Britain, where he raised new
levies, and afterwards transported them to his colony.
The Flemish Author then returns to the Scythians, between whom and the
Americans he draws a parallel. He observes that several nations of them
to the north of the Caspian Sea led a wandering life; which, as well as
many other of their customs, and way of living, agrees in many
circumstances with the Indians of America. And though the resemblances
are not absolutely perfect, yet the emigrants, even before they left
their own country, differed from each other, and went not by the same
name. Their change of abode affected what remained.
He further says, that a similar likeness exists between several American
nations, and the Samoeides who are settled, according to the Russian
accounts, on the great River Oby. And it is more natural, continues he,
to suppose that Colonies of these nations passed over to America by
crossing the icy sea on their sledges, than for the Norwegians to travel
all the way Grotius has marked out for them.
This writer makes many other remarks that are equally sensible, and
which appear to be just; but he intermixes with these some that are not
so well-founded.
Emanuel de Moraez, a Portuguese, in his history of Brazil, asserts that
America has been wholly peopled by the Carthaginians and Israelites. He
brings as a proof of this assertion the discoveries the former are known
to have made at a great distance beyond the coast of Africa. The
progress of which being put a stop to by the senate of Carthage, those
who happened to be then in the newly discovered countries, being cut off
from all communication with their countrymen, and destitute of many
necessaries of life, fell into a state of barbarism. As to the
Israelites, this author thinks that nothing but circumcision is wanted
in order to constitute a perfect resemblance between them and the
Brazilians.
George De Hornn, a learned Dutchman, has likewise written on this
subject. He sets out with declaring, that he does not believe it
possible America could have been peopled before the flood, considering
the short space of time which elapsed between the creation of the world
and that memorable event. In the next place he lays it down as a
principle, that after the deluge, men and other terrestrial animals
penetrated into that country both by sea and by land; some through
accident, and some from a formed design. That birds got thither by
flight; which they were enabled to do by resting on the rocks and
islands that are scattered about in the Ocean.
He further observes, that wild beasts may have found a free passage by
land; and that if we do not meet with horses or cattle (to which he
might have added elephants, camels, rhinoceros, and beasts of many other
kinds) it is because those nations that passed thither, were either not
acquainted with their use, or had no convenience to support them.
Having totally excluded many nations that others have admitted as the
probable first settlers of America, for which he gives substantial
reasons, he supposes that it began to be peopled by the north; and
maintains, that the primitive colonies spread themselves by the means of
the isthmus of Panama through the whole extent of the continent.
He believes that the first founders of the Indian Colonies were
Scythians. That the Phœnicians and Carthaginians afterwards got footing
in America across the Atlantic Ocean, and the Chinese by way of the
Pacific. And that other nations might from time to time have landed
there by one or other of these ways, or might possibly have been thrown
on the coast by tempests: since, through the whole extent of that
Continent, both in its northern and southern parts, we meet with
undoubted marks of a mixture of the northern nations with those who have
come from other places. And lastly, that some Jews and Christians might
have been carried there by such like events, but that this must have
happened at a time when the whole of the new world was already peopled.
After all, he acknowledges that great difficulties attend the
determination of the question. These, he says, are occasioned in the
first place by the imperfect knowledge we have of the extremities of the
globe, towards the north and south pole; and in the next place to the
havock which the Spaniards, the first discoverers of the new world, made
among its most ancient monuments; as witness the great double road
betwixt Quito and Cuzco, an undertaking so stupendous, that even the
most magnificent of those executed by the Romans cannot be compared to
it.
He supposes also another migration of the Phœnicians, than those already
mentioned, to have taken place; and this was during a three years voyage
made by the Tyrian fleet in the service of King Solomon. He asserts on
the authority of Josephus, that the port at which this embarkation was
made lay in the Mediterranean. The fleet, he adds, went in quest of
elephants teeth and peacocks to the western Coast of Africa, which is
Tarsish; then to Ophir for gold, which is Haité, or the island of
Hispaniola; and in the latter opinion he is supported by Columbus, who,
when he discovered that island, thought he could trace the furnaces in
which the gold was refined.
To these migrations which preceded the Christian æra, he adds many
others of a later date from different nations, but these I have not time
to enumerate. For the same reason I am obliged to pass over numberless
writers on this subject; and shall content myself with only giving the
sentiments of two or three more.
The first of these is Pierre De Charlevoix, a Frenchman, who, in his
journal of a voyage to North America, made so lately as the year 1720,
has recapitulated the opinions of a variety of authors on this head, to
which he has subjoined his own conjectures. But the latter cannot
without some difficulty be extracted, as they are so interwoven with the
passages he has quoted, that it requires much attention to discriminate
them.
He seems to allow that America might have received its first inhabitants
from Tartary and Hyrcania. This he confirms, by observing that the lions
and tigers which are found in the former, must have come from those
countries, and whose passage serves for a proof that the two hemispheres
join to the northward of Asia. He then draws a corroboration of this
argument, from a story he says he has often heard related by Father
Grollon, a French jesuit, as an undoubted matter of fact.
This Father, after having laboured some time in the missions of New
France, passed over to those of China. One day as he was travelling in
Tartary, he met a Huron woman whom he had formerly known in Canada. He
asked her by what adventure she had been carried into a country so
distant from her own. She made answer, that having been taken in war,
she had been conducted from nation to nation, till she had reached the
place at which she then was.
Monsieur Charlevoix says further, that he had been assured, another
Jesuit, passing through Nantz in his return from China, had related much
such another affair of a Spanish woman from Florida. She also had been
taken by certain Indians, and given to those of a more distant country;
and by these again to another nation, till having thus been successively
passed from country to country, and traveled through regions extremely
cold, she at last found herself in Tartary. Here she had married a
Tartar, who had attended the conquerors into China, where she was then
settled.
He acknowledges as an allay to the probability of these stories, that
those who had sailed farthest to the eastward of Asia, by pursuing the
Coast of Jesso or Kamtschatka, have pretended that they had perceived
the extremity of this continent; and from thence have concluded that
there could not possibly be any communication by land. But he adds that
Francis Guella, a Spaniard, is said to have asserted, that this
separation is no more than a straight, about one hundred miles over, and
that some late voyages of the Japonese give grounds to think that this
straight is only a bay, above which there is a passage over land.
He goes on to observe, that though there are few wild beasts to be met
with in North America, except a kind of tigers without spots, which are
found in the country of the Iroquoise, yet towards the tropics there are
lions and real tigers, which, notwithstanding, might have come from
Hyrcania and Tartary; for as by advancing gradually southward they met
with climates more agreeable to their natures, they have in time
abandoned the northern countries.
He quotes both Solinus and Pliny to prove that the Scythian
Anthropophagi once depopulated a great extent of country, as far as the
promontory Tabin; and also an author of later date, Mark Pol, a
Venetian, who, he says, tells us, that to the north-east of China and
Tartary there are vast uninhabited countries, which might be sufficient
to confirm any conjectures concerning the retreat of a great number of
Scythians into America.
To this he adds, that we find in the antients the names of some of these
nations. Pliny speaks of the Tabians; Solinus mentions the Apuleans, who
had for neighbours the Massagetes, whom Pliny since assures us to have
entirely disappeared. Ammianus Marcellinus expresly tells us, that the
fear of the Anthropophagi obliged several of the inhabitants of those
countries to take refuge elsewhere. From all these authorities Mons.
Charlevoix concludes, that there is at least room to conjecture that
more than one nation in America had a Scythian or Tartarian original.
He finishes his remarks on the authors he has quoted, by the following
observations: It appears to me that this controversy may be reduced to
the two following articles; first, how the new world might have been
peopled; and secondly, by whom, and by what means it has been peopled.
Nothing, he asserts, may be more easily answered than the first. America
might have been peopled as the three other parts of the world have been.
Many difficulties have been formed on this subject, which have been
deemed insolvable, but which are far from being so. The inhabitants of
both hemispheres are certainly the descendants of the same father; the
common parent of mankind received an express command from heaven to
people the whole world, and accordingly it has been peopled.
To bring this about it was necessary to overcome all difficulties that
lay in the way, and they have been got over. Were these difficulties
greater with respect to peopling the extremities of Asia, Africa, and
Europe, or the transporting men into the islands which lie at a
considerable distance from those continents, than to pass over into
America? certainly not.
Navigation, which has arrived at so great perfection within these three
or four centuries, might possibly have been more perfect in those early
ages than at this day. Who can believe that Noah and his immediate
descendants knew less of this art than we do? That the builder and pilot
of the largest ship that ever was, a ship that was formed to traverse an
unbounded ocean, and had so many shoals and quicksands to guard against,
should be ignorant of, or should not have communicated to those of his
descendants who survived him, and by whose means he was to execute the
order of the Great Creator; I say, who can believe he should not have
communicated to them the art of sailing upon an ocean, which was not
only more calm and pacific, but at the same time confined within its
ancient limits?
Admitting this, how easy is it to pass, exclusive of the passage already
described, by land from the coast of Africa to Brazil, from the Canaries
to the Western Islands, and from them to the Antilles? From the British
Isles, or the coast of France, to Newfoundland, the passage is neither
long nor difficult; I might say as much of that from China to Japan;
from Japan, or the Phillipines, to the Isles Mariannes; and from thence
to Mexico.
There are islands at a considerable distance from the continent of Asia,
where we have not been surprized to find inhabitants, why then should we
wonder to meet with people in America? Nor can it be imagined that the
grandsons of Noah, when they were obliged to separate and spread
themselves in conformity to the designs of God, over the whole earth,
should find it absolutely impossible to people almost one half of it.
I have been more copious in my extracts from this author than I
intended, as his reasons appear to be solid, and many of his
observations just. From this encomium, however, I must exclude the
stories he has introduced of the Huron and Floridan women, which I think
I might venture to pronounce fabulous.
I shall only add, to give my Readers a more comprehensive view of Mons.
Charlevoix’s dissertation, the method he proposes to come at the truth
of what we are in search of.
The only means by which this can be done, he says, is by comparing the
languages of the Americans with the different nations, from whence we
might suppose they have peregrinated. If we compare the former with
those words that are considered as primitives, it might possibly set us
upon some happy discovery. And this way of ascending to the original of
nations, which is by far the least equivocal, is not so difficult as
might be imagined. We have had, and still have, travellers and
missionaries who have attained the languages that are spoken in all the
provinces of the new world; it would only be necessary to make a
collection of their grammars and vocabularies, and to collate them with
the dead and living languages of the old world, that pass for originals,
and the similarity might easily be traced. Even the different dialects,
in spite of the alterations they have undergone, still retain enough of
the mother tongue to furnish considerable lights.
Any enquiry into the manners, customs, religion, or traditions of the
Americans, in order to discover by that means their origin, he thinks
would prove fallacious. A disquisition of that kind, he observes, is
only capable of producing a false light, more likely to dazzle, and to
make us wander from the right path, than to lead us with certainty to
the point proposed.
Ancient traditions are effaced from the minds of such as either have
not, or for several ages have been without, those helps that are
necessary to preserve them. And in this situation is full one half of
the world. New events, and a new arrangement of things, give rise to new
traditions, which efface the former, and are themselves effaced in turn.
After one or two centuries have passed, there no longer remain any
traces of the first traditions; and thus we are involved in a state of
uncertainty.
He concludes with the following remarks, among many others. Unforeseen
accidents, tempests, and shipwrecks, have certainly contributed to
people every habitable part of the world: and ought we to wonder, after
this, at perceiving certain resemblances, both of persons and manners,
between nations that are most remote from each other, when we find such
a difference between those that border on one another? As we are
destitute of historical monuments, there is nothing, I repeat it, but a
knowledge of the primitive languages that is capable of throwing any
light upon these clouds of impenetrable darkness.
By this enquiry we should at least be satisfied, among that prodigious
number of various nations inhabiting America, and differing so much in
languages from each other, which are those who make use of words totally
and entirely different from those of the old world, and who consequently
must be reckoned to have passed over to America in the earliest ages,
and those who, from the analogy of their language with such as are at
present used in the three other parts of the globe, leave room to judge
that their migration has been more recent, and which ought to be
attributed to shipwrecks, or to some accident similar to those which
have been spoken of in the course of this treatise.
I shall only add the opinion of one author more before I give my own
sentiments on the subject, and that is of James Adair, Esq; who resided
forty years among the Indians, and published the history of them in the
year 1772. In his learned and systematical history of those nations,
inhabiting the western parts of the most southern of the American
colonies, this gentleman without hesitation pronounces that the American
Aborigines are descended from the Israelites, either whilst they were a
maritime power, or soon after their general captivity.
This descent he endeavours to prove from their religious rites, their
civil and martial customs, their marriages, their funeral ceremonies,
their manners, language, traditions, and from a variety of other
particulars. And so complete is his conviction on this head, that he
fancies he finds a perfect and indisputable similitude in each. Through
all these I have not time to follow him, and shall therefore only give a
few extracts to show on what foundation he builds his conjectures, and
what degree of credit he is entitled to on this point.
He begins with observing, that though some have supposed the Americans
to be descended from the Chinese, yet neither their religion, laws, or
customs agree in the least with those of the Chinese; which sufficiently
proves that they are not of this line. Besides, as our best ships are
now almost half a year in sailing for China (our author does not here
recollect that this is from a high northern latitude, across the Line,
and then back again greatly to the northward of it, and not directly
athwart the Pacific Ocean for only one hundred and eleven degrees) or
from thence to Europe, it is very unlikely they should attempt such
dangerous discoveries, with their supposed small vessels, against rapid
currents, and in dark and sickly Monsoons.
He further remarks, that this is more particularly improbable, as there
is reason to believe that this nation was unacquainted with the use of
the loadstone to direct their course. China, he says, is about eight
thousand miles distant from the American continent, which is twice as
far as across the Atlantic Ocean. And we are not informed by any ancient
writer of their maritime skill, or so much as any inclination that way,
besides small coasting voyages. The winds blow likewise, with little
variation from east to west within the latitudes thirty and odd, north
and south; and therefore these could not drive them on the American
coast, it lying directly contrary to such a course.
Neither could persons, according to this writer’s account, sail to
America from the north by the way of Tartary or Ancient Scythia; that,
from its situation, never having been or can be a maritime power; and it
is utterly impracticable, he says, for any to come to America by sea
from that quarter. Besides, the remaining traces of their religious
ceremonies and civil and martial customs are quite opposite to the like
vestiges of the Old Scythians. Even in the moderate northern climates
there is not to be seen the least trace of any ancient stately
buildings, or of any thick settlements, as are said to remain in the
less healthy regions of Peru and Mexico. And several of the Indian
nations assure us, that they crossed the Mississippi before they made
their present northern settlements; which, connected with the former
arguments, he concludes will sufficiently explode that weak opinion of
the American Aborigines being lineally descended from the Tartars or
ancient Scythians.
Mr. Adair’s reasons for supposing that the Americans derive their origin
from the Jews are,
First, because they are divided into tribes, and have chiefs over them
as the Israelites had.
Secondly, because, as by a strict permanent divine precept, the Hebrew
nation were ordered to worship, at Jerusalem, Jehovah the true and
living God, so do the Indians, stiling him Yohewah. The ancient
Heathens, he adds, it is well known worshipped a plurality of gods, but
the Indians pay their religious devoirs to the Great beneficent supreme
holy Spirit of Fire, who resides, as they think, above the clouds, and
on earth also with unpolluted people. They pay no adoration to images,
or to dead persons, neither to the celestial luminaries, to evil
spirits, nor to any created beings whatever.
Thirdly, because, agreeable to the theocracy or divine government of
Israel, the Indians think the deity to be the immediate head of their
state.
Fourthly, because, as the Jews believe in the ministration of angels,
the Indians also believe that the higher regions are inhabited by good
spirits.
Fifthly, because the Indian language and dialects appear to have the
very idiom and genius of the Hebrew. Their words and sentences being
expressive, concise, emphatical, sonorous, and bold; and often, both in
letters, and signification, are synonimous with the Hebrew language.
Sixthly, because they count their time after the manner of the Hebrews.
Seventhly, because in conformity to, or after the manner of the Jews,
they have their prophets, high-priests, and other religious orders.
Eighthly, because their festivals, fasts, and religious rites have a
great resemblance to those of the Hebrews.
Ninthly, because the Indians, before they go to war, have many
preparatory ceremonies of purification and fasting, like what is
recorded of the Israelites.
Tenthly, because the same taste for ornaments, and the same kind are
made use of by the Indians, as by the Hebrews.
These and many other arguments of a similar nature, Mr. Adair brings in
support of his favourite system; but I should imagine, that if the
Indians are really derived from the Hebrews, among their religious
ceremonies, on which he chiefly seems to build his hypothesis, the
principal, that of circumcision, would never have been laid aside, and
its very remembrance obliterated.
Thus numerous and diverse are the opinions of those who have hitherto
written on this subject! I shall not, however, either endeavour to
reconcile them, or to point out the errors of each, but proceed to give
my own sentiments on the origin of the Americans; which are founded on
conclusions drawn from the most rational arguments of the writers I have
mentioned, and from my own observations; the consistency of these I
shall leave to the judgment of my Readers.
The better to introduce my conjectures on this head, it is necessary
first to ascertain the distances between America and those parts of the
habitable globe that approach nearest to it.
The Continent of America, as far as we can judge from all the researches
that have been made near the poles, appears to be entirely separated
from the other quarters of the world. That part of Europe which
approaches nearest to it, is the coast of Greenland, lying in about
seventy degrees of north latitude; and which reaches within twelve
degrees of the coast of Labrador, situated on the north-east borders of
this continent. The coast of Guinea is the nearest part of Africa; which
lies about eighteen hundred and sixty miles north-east from the Brazils.
The most eastern coast of Asia, which extends to the Korean Sea on the
north of China, projects north-east through eastern Tartary and
Kamschatka to Siberia, in about sixty degrees of north latitude. Towards
which the western coasts of America, from California to the Straights of
Annian, extend nearly north-west, and lie in about forty-six degrees of
the same latitude.
Whether the Continent of America stretches any farther north than these
straights, and joins to the eastern parts of Asia, agreeable to what has
been asserted by some of the writers I have quoted, or whether the lands
that have been discovered in the intermediate parts are only an
archipelago of islands verging towards the opposite continent, is not
yet ascertained.
It being, however, certain that there are many considerable islands
which lie between the extremities of Asia and America, viz. Japon, Yeso
or Jedso, Gama’s Land, Behring’s Isle, with many others discovered by
Tschirikow, and besides these, from fifty degrees north there appearing
to be a cluster of islands that reach as far as Siberia, it is probable
from their proximity to America, that it received its first inhabitants
from them.
This conclusion is the most rational I am able to draw, supposing that
since the Aborigines got footing on this continent, no extraordinary or
sudden change in the position or surface of it has taken place, from
inundations, earthquakes, or any revolutions of the earth that we are at
present unacquainted with.
To me it appears highly improbable that it should have been peopled from
different quarters, across the Ocean, as others have asserted. From the
size of the ships made use of in those early ages, and the want of the
compass, it cannot be supposed that any maritime nation would by choice
venture over the unfathomable Ocean in search of distant continents. Had
this however been attempted, or had America been first accidentally
peopled from ships freighted with passengers of both sexes which were
driven by strong easterly winds across the Atlantic, these settlers must
have retained some traces of the language of the country from whence
they migrated; and this since the discovery of it by the Europeans must
have been made out. It also appears extraordinary that several of these
accidental migrations, as allowed by some, and these from different
parts, should have taken place.
Upon the whole, after the most critical enquiries, and the maturest
deliberation, I am of opinion, that America received its first
inhabitants from the north-east, by way of the great archipelago just
mentioned, and from these alone. But this might have been effected at
different times, and from various parts: from Tartary, China, Japon, or
Kamschatka, the inhabitants of these places resembling each other in
colour, features, and shape; and who, before some of them acquired a
knowledge of the arts and sciences, might have likewise resembled each
other in their manners, customs, religion, and language.
The only difference between the Chinese nation and the Tartars lies in
the cultivated state of the one, and the unpolished situation of the
others. The former have become a commercial people, and dwell in houses
formed into regular towns and cities; the latter live chiefly in tents,
and rove about in different hords, without any fixed abode. Nor can the
long and bloody wars these two nations have been engaged in, exterminate
their hereditary similitude. The present family of the Chinese emperors
is of Tartarian extraction; and if they were not sensible of some claim
beside that of conquest, so numerous a people would scarcely sit quiet
under the dominion of strangers.
It is very evident that some of the manners and customs of the American
Indians resemble those of the Tartars; and I make no doubt but that in
some future æra, and this not a very distant one, it will be reduced to
a certainty, that during some of the wars between the Tartars and the
Chinese, a part of the inhabitants of the northern provinces were driven
from their native country, and took refuge in some of the isles
before-mentioned, and from thence found their way into America. At
different periods each nation might prove victorious, and the conquered
by turns fly before their conquerors; and from hence might arise the
similitude of the Indians to all these people, and that animosity which
exists between so many of their tribes.
It appears plainly to me that a great similarity between the Indian and
Chinese is conspicuous in that particular custom of shaving or plucking
off the hair, and leaving only a small tuft on the crown of the head.
This mode is said to have been enjoined by the Tartarian emperors on
their accession to the throne of China, and consequently is a further
proof that this custom was in use among the Tartars; to whom as well as
the Chinese, the Americans might be indebted for it.
Many words also are used both by the Chinese and Indians, which have a
resemblance to each other, not only in their sound, but their
signification. The Chinese call a slave, shungo; and the Naudowessie
Indians, whose language from their little intercourse with the Europeans
is the least corrupted, term a dog, shungush. The former denominate one
species of their tea, shousong; the latter call their tobacco,
shousassau. Many other of the words used by the Indians contain the
syllables che, chaw, and chu, after the dialect of the Chinese.
There probably might be found a similar connection between the language
of the Tartars and the American Aborigines, were we as well acquainted
with it as we are, from a commercial intercourse, with that of the
Chinese.
I am confirmed in these conjectures, by the accounts of Kamschatka
published a few years ago by order of the Empress of Russia. The author
of which says, that the sea which divides that peninsula from America is
full of islands; and that the distance between Tschukotskoi-Noss, a
promontory which lies at the eastern extremity of that country, and the
coast of America, is not more than two degrees and a half of a great
circle. He further says, that there is the greatest reason to suppose
that Asia and America once joined at this place, as the coasts of both
continents appear to have been broken into capes and bays, which answer
each other; more especially as the inhabitants of this part of both
resemble each other in their persons, habits, customs, and food. Their
language, indeed, he observes, does not appear to be the same, but then
the inhabitants of each district in Kamschatka speak a language as
different from each other, as from that spoken on the opposite coast.
These observations, to which he adds, the similarity of the boats of the
inhabitants of each coast, and a remark that the natives of this part of
America are wholly strangers to wine and tobacco, which he looks upon as
a proof that they have as yet had no communication with the natives of
Europe, he says, amount to little less than a demonstration that America
was peopled from this part of Asia.
The limits of my present undertaking will not permit me to dwell any
longer on this subject, or to enumerate any other proofs in favour of my
hypothesis. I am however so thoroughly convinced of the certainty of it,
and so desirous have I been to obtain every testimony which can be
procured in its support, that I once made an offer to a private society
of gentlemen, who were curious in such researches, and to whom I had
communicated my sentiments on this point, that I would undertake a
journey, on receiving such supplies as were needful, through the
north-east parts of Europe and Asia to the interior parts of America,
and from thence to England; making, as I proceeded, such observations
both on the languages and manners of the people with whom I should be
conversant, as might tend to illustrate the doctrine I have here laid
down, and to satisfy the curiosity of the learned or inquisitive; but as
this proposal was judged rather to require a national than a private
support, it was not carried into execution.
I am happy to find, since I formed the foregoing conclusions, that they
correspond with the sentiments of that great and learned historian
Doctor Robertson; and though, with him, I acknowledge that the
investigation, from its nature, is so obscure and intricate that the
conjectures I have made can only be considered as conjectures, and not
indisputable conclusions, yet they carry with them a greater degree of
probability than the suppositions of those who assert that this
continent was peopled from another quarter.
One of the Doctor’s quotations from the Journals of Behring and
Tschirikow, who sailed from Kamschatka about the year 1741 in quest of
the New World, appears to carry great weight with it, and to afford our
conclusions firm support: “These commanders having shaped their course
towards the east, discovered land, which to them appeared to be part of
the American continent; and according to their observations, it seems to
be situated within a few degrees of the north-west coast of California.
They had there some intercourse with the inhabitants, who seemed to them
to resemble the North Americans; as they presented to the Russians the
Calumet or Pipe of Peace, which is a symbol of friendship universal
among the people of North America, and an usage of arbitrary institution
peculiar to them.”
One of this incomparable writer’s own arguments in support of his
hypothesis is also urged with great judgment, and appears to be nearly
conclusive. He says, “We may lay it down as a certain principle in this
enquiry, that America was not peopled by any nation of the ancient
continent, which had made considerable progress in civilization. The
inhabitants of the New World were in a state of society so extremely
rude, as to be unacquainted with those arts which are the first essays
of human ingenuity in its advance towards improvement. Even the most
cultivated nations of America were strangers to many of those simple
inventions, which were almost coeval with society in other parts of the
world, and were known in the earliest periods of civil life. From this
it is manifest that the tribes which originally migrated to America,
came off from nations which must have been no less barbarous than their
posterity, at the time when they were first discovered by the Europeans.
If ever the use of iron had been known to the savages of America, or to
their progenitors, if ever they had employed a plough, a loom, or a
forge, the utility of these inventions would have preserved them, and it
is impossible that they should have been abandoned or forgotten.”