LOUISA--DAY-KAU-RAY ON EDUCATION
The payment was now over, and the Indians had dispersed and gone to
their wintering grounds. The traders too, had departed, laden with
a good share of the silver, in exchange for which each family had
provided itself, as far as possible, with clothing, guns, traps,
ammunition, and the other necessaries for their winter use. The
Indians are good at a bargain. They are not easily overreached. On
the contrary, they understand at once when a charge is exorbitant;
and a trader who tries his shrewdness upon them is sure to receive an
expressive _sobriquet_, which ever after clings to him.
For instance, M. Rolette was called by them "Ah-kay-zaup-ee-tah," _five
more_--because, as they said, let them offer what number of skins they
might, in bartering for an article, his terms were invariably "five
more."
Upon one occasion a lady remarked to him, "Oh, M. Rolette, I would not
be engaged in the Indian trade; it seems to me a system of cheating the
poor Indians."
"Let me tell you, madame," replied he with great _naiveté_, "it is not
so easy a thing to cheat the Indians as you imagine. I have tried it
these twenty years, and have never succeeded!"
* * * * *
We were now settled down to a quiet, domestic life. The military system
under which everything was conducted--the bugle-call, followed by the
music of a very good band, at "réveille;" the light, animated strains
for "sick-call," and soon after for "breakfast;" the longer ceremony of
guard-mounting; the "Old English Roast-beef," to announce the dinner
hour; the sweet, plaintive strains of "Lochaber no more," followed
most incongruously by "the Little Cock-Sparrow," at "retreat;" and
finally, the long, rolling tattoo, late in the evening, made pleasant
divisions of our time, which, by the aid of books, music, and drawing,
in addition to household occupations, seemed to fly more swiftly than
ever before. It was on Sunday that I most missed my eastern home. I had
planned beforehand what we should do on the first recurrence of this
sacred day, under our own roof. "We shall have, at least," said I to
myself, "the Sabbath's quiet and repose; and I can, among other things,
benefit poor Louisa by giving her some additional lessons of a serious
character."
So, while she was removing the breakfast things, I said to her,
"Now, Louisa, get your work all finished, and everything put neatly
aside, and then come here to me again."
"Yes, ma'am."
We sat down to our books, and read and waited; we waited and read
another hour--no Louisa.
There was music and the sound of voices on the parade in front of
our windows, but that did not disturb us: it was what we were daily
accustomed to.
I must go at length, and see what could be keeping my damsel so.
I descended to the kitchen. The breakfast things stood upon the
table--the kettles and spider upon the hearth--the fire was out--the
kitchen empty.
Passing back into the hall, which extended the whole length of the
house, and opened in front upon the parade, I perceived a group
collected in the area, of all shades and colors, and in the midst, one
round, woolly head which I could not mistake, bobbing up and down, now
on this side, now on that, while peals of laughter were issuing from
the whole group.
"Louisa," I called, "come here; what are you doing there?"
"Looking at inspection."
"But why are not your breakfast tilings washed, and your kitchen swept?
Did I not tell you I wished you to come up and learn your lessons?"
"Yes, ma'am; but I had to see inspection first. Everybody looks at
'inspection' on Sunday."
I found it was in vain to expect to do more for Louisa than give her an
afternoon's lesson, and with that I was obliged to content myself.
I felt that it would be very pleasant, and perhaps profitable, for all
the inmates of the garrison to assemble on this day; one of our number
might be found who would read a portion of the church-service, and a
sermon from one of our different selections.
I approached the subject cautiously, with an inquiry to this effect:
"Are there none among the officers who are religiously disposed?"
"Oh, yes," replied the one whom I addressed, "there is S----; when he
is half-tipsy, he takes his Bible and 'Newton's Works,' and goes to bed
and cries over them; he thinks in this way he is excessively pious."
S---- was among the officers who had never called upon us; it was fair
to infer that if his religious principles did not correct his own evil
habits, they would not aid much in improving others; therefore, it
seemed useless to call in his co-operation in any scheme for a better
observance of the Lord's Day.
We had to content ourselves with writing to our friends at the east
to interest themselves in getting a missionary sent to us, who should
officiate as chaplain in the garrison, a plan that seemed to find favor
with the officers. The hope of any united religious services was, for
the present, laid aside.
The post-surgeon having obtained a furlough, his place was supplied by
Dr. Newhall, of Galena, and thus, by the addition of his gentle, quiet
wife, our circle of ladies was now enlarged to three. Here we were, in
a wilderness, but yet how contented and happy!
A gloom was soon to replace this envied tranquillity in our home. A
Frenchman, named Letendre, one day suddenly presented himself. He had
come from Chicago, with the distressing intelligence of the extreme,
indeed hopeless illness of our dear relative. Dr. Wolcott. My husband
immediately commenced his preparations for instant departure. I begged
to be permitted to accompany him, but the rapidity with which he
proposed to journey obliged him to refuse my entreaties. In a few hours
his provisions, horses, and all other things necessary for the journey
were in readiness, and he set off with Petaille Grignon, his usual
attendant on such expeditions, leaving Letendre to follow as soon as
recruited from his fatigue.
Sad and dreary were the hours of his absence, notwithstanding the
kind efforts of our friends to cheer me. In a few days I received the
news of the fatal termination of Dr. W.'s illness, brought by another
messenger. That noble heart, so full of warm and kindly affections,
had ceased to beat, and sad and desolate, indeed, were those who had
so loved and honored him.
As soon as he could possibly leave his family, my husband returned,
and it was fortunate that he had delayed no longer, for the winter now
began to set in, and with severity.
Our quarters were spacious, but having been constructed of the green
trees of the forest, cut down and sawed into boards by the hands of
the soldiers, they were considerably given to shrinking and warping,
thus leaving many a yawning crevice. Stuffing the cracks with cotton
batting, and pasting strips of paper over them, formed the employment
of many a leisure hour.
Then the chimneys, spite of all the currents of air, which might have
been expected to create a draught, had a sad habit of smoking. To
remedy this, a couple of gun-barrels had been sawed off and inserted in
the hearth, one on each side of the fire place, in the hope that the
air from the room below might help to carry the smoke into its proper
place, the chimney.
The next morning after this had been done, Louisa was washing the
hearth.
"Pray, ma'am," said she, "what are these things put in here for?"
I explained their use.
"Oh, I am so glad it is only that. Uncle Ephraim (Major Twiggs'
servant) said they were to be filled with powder and fired off
Christmas Day, and he was terribly afraid they would blow the house up,
and we in it."
Ephraim, who was a most faithful and valuable servant, often amused
himself with playing upon the credulity of the younger portions of the
colored fraternity.
"Is it true," asked Louisa, one day, "that Pill on and Plante were once
prairie-wolves?"
"Prairie-wolves! what an idea! Why do you ask such a foolish question?"
"Because uncle Ephraim says they, and all the Frenchmen about here,
were once prairie-wolves, and that, living so near the white people,
they grew, after a time, to be like them, and learn to talk and dress
like them. And then, when they get to be old, they turn back into
prairie-wolves again, and that all the wolves that the officers bait
with their dogs used to be Frenchmen, once."
After a time, however, I ceased to straighten out these stories of
uncle Ephraim, for I was gradually arriving at the conviction that my
little colored damsel was by no means so simple and unsophisticated as
she would have me believe, and that I was, after all, the one who was
imposed upon.
The snow this winter was prodigious, and the cold intense. The water
would freeze in our parlors at a very short distance from the fire,
for, although the "fatigue parties" kept the hall filled with wood,
almost up to the ceiling, that did not counterbalance the inconvenience
of having the wide doors thrown open to the outer air for a great
portion of the day, to allow of their bringing it in. We Northerners
should have had wood-houses specially for the purpose, and not only
have kept our great hall-doors closed, but have likewise protected them
with a "hurricane house." But the Florida frontier was not a station
for our southern bachelors to have acquired the knowledge that would
have been available when the thermometer was twenty-five degrees below
zero--at a point that brandy congealed in the sideboard.
The arrival of Christmas and New Year's brought us our Indian friends
again. They had learned something of the observation of these holidays
from their French neighbors, and I had been forewarned that I should
see the squaws kissing every white man they met. Although not crediting
this to its full extent, I could readily believe that they would each
expect a present, as a "compliment of the season," so I duly prepared
myself with a supply of beads, ribbons, combs, and other trinkets.
Knowing them to be fond of dainties, I had also a quantity of crullers
and doughnuts made ready the day before, as a treat to them.
To my great surprise and annoyance, only a moderate share of the cakes,
the frying of which had been entrusted to Louisa, were brought up to be
placed in the "Davis."
"Where are the rest of the cakes, Louisa?"
"That great fellow, Hancock, came in with the fatigue party to fill the
water-barrels, and while I had just stepped into the store-room to get
some more flour, he carried off all I had got cooked."
And Louisa made a face and whined, as if she had not herself treated
every soldier who had set his foot in the premises.
At an early hour the next morning I had quite a levee of the
Ho-tshung-rah matrons. They seated themselves in a circle on the
floor, and I was sorry to observe that the application of a little
soap and water to their blankets had formed no part of their holiday
preparations. There being no one to interpret, I thought I would begin
the conversation in a way intelligible to themselves, so I brought out
of the sideboard a china dish, filled with the nice brown crullers,
over which I had grated, according to custom, a goodly quantity of
white sugar. I handed it to the first of the circle. She took the
dish from my hand, and deliberately pouring all the cakes into the
corner of her blanket, returned it to me empty. "She must be a most
voracious person," thought I, "but I will manage better the next time."
I refilled the dish, and approached the next one, taking care to keep
a fast hold of it as I offered the contents, of which I supposed she
would modestly take one. Not so, however. She scooped out the whole
with her two hands, and, like the former, bestowed them in her blanket.
My sense of politeness revolted at handing them out one by one, as we
do to children, so I sat down to deliberate what was to be done, for
evidently the supply would not long answer such an ample demand, and
there would be more visitors anon.
While I was thus perplexed those who had received the cakes commenced
a distribution, and the whole number was equitably divided among the
company. But I observed they did not eat them. They passed their
fingers over the grated sugar, looked in each other's faces, and
muttered in low tones--there was evidently something they did not
understand. Presently one more adventurous than the rest wet her
fingers, and taking up a few grains of the sugar put it cautiously to
her mouth.
"Tah-nee-zhoo-rah!" (Sugar!) was her delighted exclamation, and they
all broke out into a hearty laugh; it is needless to say that the
cakes disappeared with all the celerity they deemed compatible with
good-breeding. Never having seen any sugar but the brown or yellow
maple, they had supposed the white substance to be salt, and for that
reason had hesitated to taste it.
Their visit was prolonged until Shaw-nee-aw-kee made his appearance,
and then, having been made happy by their various gifts, they all took
their departure.
About this time, Mr. Kinzie received a letter from Col. Richard M.
Johnson, of Kentucky.[51] This gentleman had interested himself greatly
in a school established in that State, for the education of Indian
youths and children. The purport of his letter was to request the Agent
to use every endeavor to induce the Winnebagoes not only to send their
children to this institution for their education, but also (what was
still more important) to set apart a portion of their annuity money, to
assist in sustaining it.
There happened to be, at this holiday season, a number of the chiefs in
the neighborhood of the Portage, and a messenger was sent to convene
them all at the house of Paquette, the interpreter, that their "father"
might hold a talk with them.
On the day appointed they all assembled. The subject matter of the
letter was laid before them, and all the advantages of civilization
and education duly set forth--the benefits which would arise to their
nation, if even a small portion of the younger members could be
well-taught by the whites, and then return to their tribe, to instruct
them in the learning, the arts, manufactures, and habits of civilized
life. To each paragraph, as it was uttered to them, they gave a
unanimous "Humph!" (Good.)
When their "father's" address was ended, _Day-kau-ray_, the oldest and
most venerable among the chiefs, rose and spoke as follows:--
"Father,--The Great Spirit made the white man and the Indian. He did
not make them alike. He gave the white man a heart to love peace, and
the arts of a quiet life. He taught him to live in towns, to build
houses, to make books, to learn all things that would make him happy
and prosperous in the way of life appointed him. To the red man the
Great Spirit gave a different character. He gave him a love of the
woods, of a free life, of hunting and fishing, of making war with
his enemies and taking scalps. The white man does not live like the
Indian--it is not his nature. Neither does the Indian love to live like
the white man--the Great Spirit did not make him so.
"Father,--We do not wish to do anything contrary to the will of the
Great Spirit. If he had made us with white skins, and characters like
the white men, then we would send our children to this school to be
taught like the white children.
"Father,--We think that if the Great Spirit had wished us to be like
the whites, he would have made us so. As he has not seen fit to do so,
we believe he would be displeased with us, to try and make ourselves
different from what he thought good.
"Father,--I have nothing more to say. This is what we think. If we
change our minds, we will let you know."
It will be seen from these remarks of Day-kau-ray, that the Indians
entertain a conviction that the Great Spirit himself teaches the white
man the arts and sciences, and since he has given the red man no
instruction in these branches, it would be unbecoming in him to attempt
to acquire them in an irregular manner.
With little incidents of this kind, and with an occasional dinner
or tea-party to the young officers, sometimes given at the Major's
quarters, sometimes at our own, our course of life passed pleasantly
on. At times I would amuse myself by making "something very nice" in
the form of a fruit cake or pie, to send to the quarters of the young
officers as a present, it being supposed that possibly, without a
lady to preside over their mess, it might be sometimes deficient in
these delicacies. Mrs. Twiggs was so fortunate as to have well-trained
servants to do for her that which, thanks to my little dark handmaid,
always fell to my share.
One day I had made some mince pies, which the Major and my husband
greatly approved, and I thought I would send one to each of the young
officers.
It happened that my husband, that day, in returning from superintending
his men on the other side of the river, had occasion to call on some
errand at Captain Harney's quarters.
Dinner had just been placed upon the table, and the Captain insisted
on his visitor's sitting down and partaking Math him, and another
gentleman who was present. The pork and beans were pronounced
excellent, and being removed there followed a mince pie.
The Captain cut it, and helped his guests, then taking a piece himself,
he commenced tasting it. Pushing back his plate with an exclamation and
a sudden jerk, he called to his servant, a little thick-set mulatto who
waited--"David, you yellow rascal, how dare you put such a pie on my
table?" And turning to the company apologetically, he said--
"If there is anything on earth David _does_ understand, it is how to
make a mince pie, and here he has filled this with brandy, so we cannot
eat a morsel of it!"
"Please, sir," said David, modestly, "I did not make the pie--it is one
Mrs. Kinzie sent as a present."
The poor Captain was now in a predicament. He raved at himself, at the
same time conjuring my husband most earnestly not to tell me what a
mistake he had made--an injunction that was lost sight of as soon as he
returned to his home. As for the unlucky Captain, he did not venture to
call on me again until he felt sure I had forgotten the circumstance.