HOME OF THE CHIPPEWAS.
An embryonic red man.--A primitive hotel.--An unkempt inhabitant of
the forest.--Leech Lake.--Major Ruffe's arrival.--White
Cloud.--Paul Beaulieu and his theory about the source of the
Mississippi.--Che-no-wa-ge-sic.--Studying Indian manners and
customs.--Dining with Indian royalty.--Chippewa hospitality.--How
the wife of an Indian Chief entertains.--Souvenir of Flat
Mouth.--Return of Che-no-wa-ge-sic.--A council held.--An Indian
speech.--"No White Man has yet seen the head of the Father of
Waters."--Voyage of exploration.--Launching the canoes.
Upon the arrival of the travelers at Leech Lake their first glimpse of
the embryonic red man was a little fellow of about six years, who ran
out of a wigwam, brandishing a bow in one hand, and carrying arrows in
the other. He was very far from being warlike, however, for with the
first glance at his white brothers he suddenly disappeared in the
bushes. A little further on they came to a log-cabin, over the door of
which was nailed a primitive pine board, bearing the inscription--"Hotel."
Here they were received by a rough-looking man with long hair and
unkempt beard, wearing, besides one other garment, a pair of pants made
from a red blanket. The surroundings were certainly not inviting, and a
closer inspection of the squalid accommodation did not lead them to form
any more favorable opinion. However, travelers cannot always be
choosers, and they really fared much better than they had expected,
dining very agreeably on fresh fish and vegetables; breakfast the next
morning being selected from the same simple bill of fare, varied only by
the addition of "flap-jacks." In default of habitable beds their
hammocks were swung from the rafters of the loft.
Leech Lake is one of the most irregularly shaped bodies of water that
can be imagined. It has no well-defined form, being neither oval nor
circular, but rather a combination of curves and varied outlines made by
peninsulas and bays, of which only a map could convey any accurate idea.
Ten islands are found upon its surface, and seven rivers and creeks
enter it from various directions. It extends not less than twenty miles
from North to South, and a still greater distance from East to West,
with a coast line of over four hundred miles. It was for many years the
seat of the Chippewa Indian Agency, but is now consolidated with the
White Earth and Red Lake agencies. Major C. A. Ruffe is at present agent
of the three departments, with headquarters at White Earth. The village
consists of some half dozen government buildings, as many log-cabins,
and about twenty or thirty wigwams scattered here and there along the
shore of one of the arms of the lake.
The day after the arrival of Captain Glazier's party, the agency was
thrown into a state of excitement by the announcement that Major Ruffe
was on his way to Lake Winnibegoshish by way of Leech Lake. The Major
came the next day, accompanied by Captain Taylor of St. Cloud, one of
the pioneer surveyors of Minnesota; Paul Beaulieu, the veteran
government interpreter, and White Cloud, the present chief of the
Mississippi Indians, who succeeded Hole-in-the-day, the latter having
been killed some time before by one of the Leech Lake band.
Paul Beaulieu, the half-breed interpreter to Major Ruffe, possesses a
fund of information concerning the Upper Mississippi which cannot be
ignored by those who are in pursuit of its mysterious source, and
Captain Glazier considered himself most fortunate in meeting him before
his departure for Lake Itasca. Beaulieu deserves more than a passing
mention, as he is a man of wide experience, and is well known throughout
Minnesota, and, in some circles, throughout the country. He was born at
Mackinaw, while General Sibley was stationed there in the interest of
the American Fur Company, of which John Jacob Astor was then the head.
His father was a Frenchman and his mother an Indian. He received an
English education, partly in the government school of Mackinaw, and
partly at Montreal. On leaving school he was employed by the Fur
Company, and sent all over the United States from the St. Lawrence to
Lower California. He crossed the continent with the Stevens party on the
first Northern Pacific survey, and rendered such valuable services that
he was presented with a testimonial in recognition of his efficiency.
Beaulieu had a theory of his own regarding the source of the
Mississippi, based upon the stories of the Chippewas and other Indians
of his acquaintance. In conversation with Captain Glazier upon the
subject he said that to the west of Lake Itasca there was another lake,
the outlet of which united with the stream from the former, and which
contributed a much larger volume of water at its junction with the
Mississippi than the outlet of Lake Itasca. He therefore assumed that
this nameless and almost unknown lake was the true source of the
Mississippi.
In corroboration of the Beaulieu theory Major Ruffe said that he had
heard the same opinion expressed by a number of old and reliable Indian
voyagers. It will thus be seen that there was a great diversity of
sentiment among the most trustworthy authorities as to the actual source
of the Great River.
Captain Glazier was greatly exercised on finding that his arrival at
Leech Lake was at a season when the local band of Indians, the
Pillagers, as they are called, were away upon their annual hunting and
fishing excursion. Their absence from the agency was a serious obstacle
in the way of immediate further progress, for the reason that, being
compelled to take the final step in their expedition to the source of
the Mississippi from this point, it was important that they should
complete their equipment by securing an interpreter, reliable guides and
birch bark canoes.
"Find Rev. Edwin Benedict as soon as you reach Leech Lake" was the last
injunction Captain Glazier received on leaving Brainerd. Mr. Benedict is
Post Missionary, and one of the five representatives of the Episcopal
Church on the Chippewa Reservation, holding his commission from Bishop
Whipple of Minnesota. With this genial gentleman, Captain Glazier spent
the greater part of his time while waiting at the Agency, when not
engaged in preparations for the voyage. The courtesy of a semi-civilized
bed, and the convenience of a table, with pens, ink and paper, were
luxuries to be appreciated and not readily forgotten.
Conversations with Mr. Benedict and with Flat Mouth, chief of the
Chippewas, developed the unexpected fact that there was but one Indian
in the Chippewa country who had actually traversed the region which the
Captain and his party were about to explore, and that he was then
visiting some friends near Lake Winnibegoshish, and was not expected to
return until the following Saturday, some three days off.
Satisfied that Che-no-wa-ge-sic, the Chippewa brave referred to, would
prove indispensable to the success of his expedition, Captain Glazier
decided to await his return to the Agency. While thus detained the
Captain and his friends found themselves indebted to Major Ruffe for his
untiring efforts to relieve the monotony of their sojourn, and to render
their condition as agreeable as possible while within his sovereign
borders.
As an important part of Captain Glazier's purpose in his Mississippi
expedition was to study the manners and customs of the people in the
several portions of the country along its banks, he took advantage of
his present detention to inquire into the habits and traits of the
Indians with whom he now came in daily contact. Some extracts from his
private diary, graphically portraying the characteristics which
impressed him, are here especially interesting, as evidence of a certain
power of philosophic reflection and inductive reasoning unusual in the
mind of one so given to the excitement of an active, enterprising life
as was Captain Glazier, who as soldier, author, and explorer certainly
allowed himself little rest for the quiet abstractions of the student.
"Through conversations with Major Ruffe I learned much of the pioneer
history of the post, and the attempts to civilize the Pillagers, as the
Leech Lake Indians are named. This band appears to have separated from
the other Chippewas at an early day, and to have taken upon themselves
the duty of defending this portion of the Chippewa frontier. They
'passed armed before their brethren' in their march westward. Their
geographical position was one which required them to assume great
responsibilities, and in the defence of their chosen frontier they have
distinguished themselves as brave and active warriors. Many acts of
intrepidity are related of them which would be recorded with admiration
had white men been the actors. Perfectly versed in the arts of the
forest they have gained many victories over that powerful assemblage of
tribes known as the Sioux. With fewer numbers the Chippewas have never
hesitated to fall upon their enemies, and have defeated and routed them
with a valor and resolution which in any period of written warfare would
have been stamped as heroic.
"It is not easy on the part of the government to repress the feelings of
hostility which have so long existed between the respective tribes, and
to convince them that they have lived into an age when milder maxims
furnish the basis of wise action....
"The domestic manners and habits of a people whose position is so
adverse to improvement could hardly be expected to present anything
strikingly different from other erratic bands of the Northwest. There is
indeed a remarkable conformity in the external habits of all our
Northern Indians. The necessity of changing their camps often to procure
game or fish, the want of domestic animals, the general dependence on
wild rice, and the custom of journeying in canoes has produced a general
uniformity of life, and it is emphatically a life of want and
vicissitude. There is a perpetual change between action and inanity in
the mind which is a striking peculiarity of the savage state, and there
is such a general want of forecast that most of their misfortunes and
hardships, in war and peace, come unexpectedly."...
Our explorers were agreeably surprised one day during their stay at
Leech Lake by an invitation from Flat Mouth, the present ruler of the
Pillagers, to take dinner with him. Captain Glazier accepted the
invitation with pleasure, for it so happened that although he had for
many years been much among the natives of the forest he had never before
had an opportunity to dine with Indian royalty.
Flat Mouth is a descendant of Aish-ki-bug-e-koszh, the most famous of
all the Chippewa chiefs. He is stalwart in appearance and endowed with
marked talents, and well deserves the title of "chief." At the appointed
time for the dinner, Captain Glazier, accompanied by his brother and Mr.
Paine, went to his residence. They found him living in a comfortable
log-house of two rooms, well floored and roofed, with two small glass
windows. A plain board table stood in the centre of the front room, upon
which the dinner was served. Pine board benches were placed upon each
side of the table and at the ends, and they followed the example of the
host in sitting down. Five other persons were admitted to the meal, the
wife of Flat Mouth, White Cloud, chief of the Mississippis, and three
Chippewa sub-chiefs. The wife of Flat Mouth sat near him and poured out
the tea, but ate or drank nothing herself. Tea-cups, spoons, plates,
knives and forks, all of plain manufacture, were carefully arranged, the
number corresponding with the guests. A fine mess of bass and white fish
cut up and very palatably broiled filled a dish in the centre of the
table, from which the host helped his guests. Birch bark salt cellars
containing pepper and salt mixed allowed each one to season his fish
with both or neither. A dish of blue berries picked on the shore of the
lake completed the repast.
While they were eating, the room became filled with Indians, apparently
the relatives and friends of Flat Mouth, and after the dinner was over,
speech-making being in order, White Cloud arose, and, assuming an
oratorical attitude, addressed Captain Glazier:
He expressed regret that white men had so long been in ignorance of the
source of the Mississippi, and said that although he had not himself
seen the head of the Great River, there were many braves of his tribe
who were familiar with its location. He hoped that his white brother had
come thoroughly prepared to explore the country beyond Lake Itasca, and
that he would not return to his friends until he had found the true
source of the "Father of Waters." Continuing he said: "I am told that
Che-no-wa-ge-sic, the Chippewa warrior, will accompany you. He is a
great hunter and a faithful guide. He can supply you with game and
paddle your canoe. The Chippewas are your friends, and will give you
shelter in their wigwams."
After he had finished, Flat Mouth presented Captain Glazier with a
beautifully beaded pipe and tobacco pouch, the work of his favorite
squaw, and expressed an earnest hope for the complete success of the
expedition. Although Captain Glazier needed nothing to keep the memory
of this novel dinner fresh in his mind, he will always treasure this
souvenir of Flat Mouth among the many pleasant mementos of his visit to
Leech Lake.
Here again, in referring to this dinner and those whom he met there,
Captain Glazier's diary furnishes one of his vivid pen-pictures in an
admirably conceived criticism upon the mental attributes and general
character of the distinguished Indian chief, White Cloud, the orator of
the feast.
"I was much gratified on this occasion by the presence of White Cloud,
whom I had been told was the most respectable man in the Chippewa
country; and if the term were applied to his intellectual qualities and
the power of drawing just conclusions from known premises, and the
effects which these have had on his standing and influence with his own
tribe, it is not misapplied. Shrewdness and quickness of perception most
of the chiefs possess, but there is more of the character of common
sense and practical reflection in White Cloud's remarks than I have
observed in most of the chiefs I have hitherto met. In his early life he
was both a warrior and a counselor, and these distinctions he held, not
from any hereditary right, but from the force of his own character. I
found him quite ready to converse upon those topics which were of most
interest to him, and the sentiments he expressed were such as would
occur to a mind which had possessed itself of facts and was capable of
reasoning from them. His manners were grave and dignified, and his
oratory such as to render him popular wherever heard."
Upon the return of Chenowagesic and other Indians, a council was held
and Captain Glazier stated his object to them. They were asked to
provide maps of the country and to furnish an interpreter, guides and
canoes. Of course, it was impossible to conclude any such important
negotiations as attended an expedition involving the veritable source of
the noble red man's mystical stream without the characteristic Indian
speech. Accordingly, Chenowagesic arose, and with much dignity,
extending his arm towards Captain Glazier, said:
"My brother, the country you are going to visit is my hunting ground. I
have hunted there many years and planted corn on the shores of Lake
Itasca. My father, now an old man, remembers the first white chief who
came to look for the source of the Great River. But, my brother, no
white man has yet seen the head of the 'Father of Waters.' I will myself
furnish the maps you have requested, and will guide you onward. There
are many lakes and rivers in the way, but the waters are favorable. I
shall talk with my friends about the canoes, and see who will step
forward to supply them. My own canoe shall be one of the number."
But a few hours were required to complete the maps, and on the following
morning, three Chippewas, including Chenowagesic, brought each a canoe
and laid it down on the shore of the lake.