On the Assiniboine River in western Manitoba there stands an old,
historic trading-post, whose crumbling walls crown a high promontory in
the angle formed by its junction with a tributary stream. This is Fort
Ellis, a mistress of the wilderness and lodestone of savage tribes
between the years 1830 and 1870.
Hither at that early day the Indians brought their buffalo robes and
beaver skins to exchange for merchandise, ammunition, and the “spirit
water.” Among the others there presently appeared a band of renegade
Sioux--the exiles, as they called themselves--under White Lodge, whose
father, Little Crow, had been a leader in the outbreak of 1862. Now the
great warchief was dead, and his people were prisoners or fugitives.
The shrewd Scotch trader, McLeod, soon discovered that the Sioux were
skilled hunters, and therefore he exerted himself to befriend them,
as well as to encourage a feeling of good will between them and the
Canadian tribes who were accustomed to make the old fort their summer
rendezvous.
Now the autumn had come, after a long summer of feasts and dances, and
the three tribes broke up and dispersed as usual in various directions.
White Lodge had twin daughters, very handsome, whose ears had been kept
burning with the proposals of many suitors, but none had received any
definite encouragement. There were one or two who would have been quite
willing to forsake their own tribes and follow the exiles had they
not feared too much the ridicule of the braves. Even Angus McLeod, the
trader’s eldest son, had need of all his patience and caution, for he
had never seen any woman he admired so much as the piquant Magaskawee,
called The Swan, one of these belles of the forest.
The Sioux journeyed northward, toward the Mouse River. They had wintered
on that stream before, and it was then the feeding ground of large herds
of buffalo. When it was discovered that the herds were moving westward,
across the Missouri, there was no little apprehension. The shrewd
medicine-man became aware of the situation, and hastened to announce his
prophecy:
“The Great Mystery has appeared to me in a dream! He showed me men with
haggard and thin faces. I interpret this to mean a scarcity of food
during the winter.”
The chief called his counselors together and set before them the dream
of the priest, whose prophecy, he said, was already being fulfilled in
part by the westward movement of the buffalo. It was agreed that they
should lay up all the dried meat they could obtain; but even for this
they were too late. The storms were already at hand, and that winter was
more severe than any that the old men could recall in their traditions.
The braves killed all the small game for a wide circuit around the camp,
but the buffalo had now crossed the river, and that country was not
favorable for deer. The more enterprising young men organized hunting
expeditions to various parts of the open prairie, but each time they
returned with empty hands.
The “Moon of Sore Eyes,” or March, had come at last, and Wazeah, the God
of Storm, was still angry. Their scant provision of dried meat had held
out wonderfully, but it was now all but consumed. The Sioux had but
little ammunition, and the snow was still so deep that it was impossible
for them to move away to any other region in search of game. The worst
was feared; indeed, some of the children and feeble old people had
already succumbed.
White Lodge again called his men together in council, and it was
determined to send a messenger to Fort Ellis to ask for relief. A young
man called Face-the-Wind was chosen for his exceptional qualities of
speed and endurance upon long journeys. The old medicine-man, whose
shrewd prophecy had gained for him the confidence of the people, now
came forward. He had closely observed the appearance of the messenger
selected, and had taken note of the storm and distance. Accordingly he
said:
“My children, the Great Mystery is offended, and this is the cause of
all our suffering! I see a shadow hanging over our messenger, but I will
pray to the Great Spirit--perhaps he may yet save him!--Great Mystery,
be thou merciful! Strengthen this young man for his journey, that he
may be able to finish it and to send us aid! If we see the sun of summer
again, we will offer the choicest of our meats to thee, and do thee
great honor!”
During this invocation, as occasionally happens in March, a loud peal
of thunder was heard. This coincidence threw the prophet almost into
a frenzy, and the poor people were all of a tremble. Face-the-Wind
believed that the prayer was directly answered, and though weakened by
fasting and unfit for the task before him, he was encouraged to make the
attempt.
He set out on the following day at dawn, and on the third day staggered
into the fort, looking like a specter and almost frightening the people.
He was taken to McLeod’s house and given good care. The poor fellow,
delirious with hunger, fancied himself engaged in mortal combat with
Eyah, the god of famine, who has a mouth extending from ear to ear.
Wherever he goes there is famine, for he swallows all that he sees, even
whole nations!
The legend has it that Eyah fears nothing but the jingling of metal: so
finally the dying man looked up into McLeod’s face and cried: “Ring your
bell in his face, Wahadah!”
The kind-hearted factor could not refuse, and as the great bell used to
mark the hours of work and of meals pealed out untimely upon the frosty
air, the Indian started up and in that moment breathed his last. He had
given no news, and McLeod and his sons could only guess at the state of
affairs upon the Mouse River.
While the men were in council with her father, Magaskawee had turned
over the contents of her work-bag. She had found a small roll of
birch-bark in which she kept her porcupine quills for embroidery, and
pulled the delicate layers apart. The White Swan was not altogether the
untutored Indian maiden, for she had lived in the family of a missionary
in the States, and had learned both to speak and write some English.
There was no ink, no pen or pencil, but with her bone awl she pressed
upon the white side of the bark the following words: