This gave me the first glimpse of home and its actualities, and the

letter was refreshing for the sympathies it expresses, after long months

of tugging over portages, and looking about to arrange in the mind

stratifications, to gather specimens of minerals, and fresh water

shells, and watch the strange antics which have been cut over the whole

face of the north-west by the Boulder Group of Rocks.

_Sept_. 6. Mr. C.C. Trowbridge writes from Michilimackinack: "I forward

the specimens collected by Mr. Doty and myself, on the tour (from Green

Bay, on the north shore, to Michilimackinack). The most interesting will

probably be the organic remains. They were collected in Little Noquet

Bay, on the N.E. side, where ridges of limestone show themselves

frequently. Near the top of the package you find a piece of limestone

weighing about two pounds, of which the upper stratum was composed;

there are two pieces of the lower stratum, resembling blue pipestone.

The middle stratum was composed of these remains. About ten miles N.E.

of Great Bay de Noquet, we found flint, or hornstone, in small

quantities in the limestone rocks. There is also a specimen of the

marble, which we saw little of; but since our arrival I am informed

that a large bluff, composed of the same, is seen 30 to 40 miles from

this. The gypsum I picked up on St. Martin's Islands."

On reaching Detroit, Gov. Cass invited Capt. Douglass and myself to

recruit ourselves a few days at his "old mansion of the ancient era." I

examined and put in order my collection of specimens, selecting such as

were designed for various institutions. A local association of persons

inclined to foster literary efforts, under the name of "Detroit Lyceum,"

elected me a member. The intrepid and energetic officer who had planned

and executed this scheme of western exploration gave me a copy of his

official letter to the Secretary of War, warmly approbating the conduct

of Capt. Douglass and myself, as members of the expedition. All its

results were attended with circumstances of high personal gratification.

I left Detroit on the 13th of October at 4 o'clock P.M., in the steamer

"Walk-in-the-Water," the first boat built on the Lake waters, and

reached Black Rock at 7 o'clock in the morning of the 17th, being a

stormy passage, in a weak but elegant boat, of eighty-seven hours. Glad

to set my foot on dry land once more, I hurried on by stage and canal,

and reached Oneida Creek Depot on the 21st at 4 o'clock in the morning,

stopped for breakfast there, and then proceeded on foot, through the

forest, by a very muddy path, to Oneida Castle, a distance of three

miles--my trunk being carried by a man on horseback. Thence I took a

conveyance for Mr. W.H. Shearman's, at Vernon, where I arrived at ten

o'clock A.M.

Capt. Douglass, who had preceded me, wrote from West Point Military

Academy, on the 27th, that in the sudden change of habits he had been

affected with a dreadful influenza. My own health continued to be

unimpaired, and my spirits were buoyant. After a few days' rest, I wrote

a report (Nov. 6th) to the Secretary of War on the metalliferous

character of the Lake Superior country, particularly in relation to its

reported wealth in copper. I proceeded to Albany on the 7th of December,

and arrived the day following, and was cordially greeted by all my

friends and acquaintances. It was my intention to have gone immediately

to New York, but the urgent entreaties of Mr. Carter and others induced

me to defer it. Very little had been said by the members of the party

about a publication. We looked to Capt. Douglass, who was the

topographer and a professor at West Point, to take the lead in the

matter. The death of Mr. Ellicott, Professor of Mathematics at that

institution, who was his father-in-law, and his appointment to the

vacant chair, from that of engineering, placed him in a very delicate

and arduous situation. He has never received credit for the noble manner

in which he met this crisis. He was not only almost immediately required

to teach his class the differential calculus, but the French copy--a

language with which he was not familiar--was the only one employed. He

was therefore not only obliged to study a comparatively new science, but

to do it in a new language; and when the course began, he had to

instruct his class daily in tasks which he committed nightly. Most men

would have sunk under the task, but he went triumphantly through it, and

I have never heard that the students or others ever had cause to suspect

his information or question his abilities. He wrote to me, and perhaps

to me only, on this subject.

There was something like a public clamor for the results of the

expedition, and the narrative was hurried into press. A new zeal was

awakened upon the subject of mineralogy and geology. A friend wrote to

me on the mineral affluence of upper Georgia. Several letters from the

western district of the State, transmitting specimens, were received.

"The unexampled success of your expedition," observes one of these

correspondents, "in all respects is a subject of high congratulation,

not only for those of whom it was composed, but also to a great portion

of the people of the United States, and to this State in particular, as

we are the grand link that unites that vast region to our Atlantic

border." [9] These feelings appear in letters from near and far. Captain

Douglass was aware of this interest, and anxious, amidst his arduous

duties, to get the necessary time to arrange his notes and materials. He

wrote to me (December 25) to furnish Professor Silliman some sketches

for the _American Journal of Science_. On the topic of topography

he says:--

[Footnote 9: W.S.D.Z., 9th Dec. 1820.]

"With regard to our daily occurrences, ought not something to be done? I

intended to have had a conversation with Governor Cass and yourself on

the subject before I parted from you, but it escaped me, and I have

since written about it.

"I should be glad to receive your delineation of the Mississippi below

Prairie du Chien, and your levels through the Fox and Wisconsin (I

believe in these we agree pretty nearly) would enable me to

consolidate mine.

"While I think of it, let me tell you I have made some calculations

about the height of the Porcupine Mountains. My data are the distance at

which they were seen from Kewewena portage, under the influence of great

refraction, and the distance on the following day without unusual

refraction, and I am convinced they cannot be less than 2000 feet high;

if, however, this staggers you, say 1800, and I am confident you are

_within_ the real elevation.

"Estimates of heights, breadths of rivers, &c., and, in looking over

your journal, any other topographical facts which you may have to

dispose of, will be very acceptable to me. Will you be able to spare me

(that is, to let me copy) any of your drawings? You know, I believe, my

views in asking are to embellish my map and memoir with landscape views

in a light style."

CHAPTER VI.

Reception by the country on my return--Reasons for publishing my

narrative without my reports for a digested scientific account of the

expedition--Delays interposed to this--Correspondents--Locality of

strontian--Letter from Dr. Mitchell--Report on the copper mines of Lake

Superior--Theoretical geology--Indian symbols--Scientific

subjects--Complete the publication of my work--Its reception by the

press and the public--Effects on my mind--Receive the appointment of

Secretary to the Indian Commission at Chicago--Result of the expedition,

as shown by a letter of Dr. Mitchell to General Cass.

1821. Governor Clinton offered me the use of his library while preparing

my journal for the press. Mr. Henry Inman, who was then beginning to

paint, re-drew some of the views. One of the leading booksellers made me

favorable proposals, which I agreed early in January to accept. I began

to transcribe my journal on the 8th of the month, and very assiduously

devoted myself to that object, sending off the sheets hurriedly as they

were written. The engravings were immediately put in hands. In this way,

the work went rapidly on; and I kept up, at the same time, an

industrious correspondence with scientific men in various places.

It was at this time an object of moment, doubtless, that the results of

this expedition should have been combined in an elaborate and joint work

by the scientific gentlemen of the party. The topography and astronomy

had been most carefully attended to by Captain Douglass, and the

materials collected for an improved map. Its geology and mineralogy had

formed the topic of my daily notes. Its aboriginal population had been

seen under circumstances rarely enjoyed. Its fresh water conchology had

been carefully observed by Douglass and myself, and fine collections

made. Something had been done respecting its botany, and the whole chain

of events was ready to be linked together in a striking manner.

But there was no one to take the initiative. Governor Cass, who had led

the expedition, did not think of writing. Professor Douglass, who was my

senior, and who occupied the post of topographer, by no means underrated

the subject, but deferred it, and, by accepting the Professorship of

Mathematics at West Point, assumed a duty which made it literally

impossible, though he did not see it immediately, that he should do

justice to his own notes. I simply went forward because no one of the

members of the expedition offered to. I had kept a journal from the

first to the last day, which I believe no one else had. I had been

diligent in the morning and evening in observing every line of coast and

river. I never allowed the sun to catch me asleep in my canoe or boat. I

had kept the domestic, as well as the more grave and important events. I

was importuned to give them to the public. I had written to Douglass

about it, but he was dilatory in answering me, and when at last he did,

and approved my suggestion for a joint work in which our observations

should be digested, it was too late, so far as my narrative went, to

withdraw it from my publishers. But I pledged to him at once my

geological and mineralogical reports, and I promptly sent him my

portfolio of sketches to embellish his map. This is simply the history

of the publication of my narrative journal.

My position was, at this time, personally agreeable. My room was daily

visited by literary and scientific men. I was invited to the mansions of

distinguished men, who spoke of my recent journey as one implying

enterprise. Nothing, surely, when I threw myself into the current of

western emigration, in 1817, was farther from my thoughts than my being

an instrumental cause, to much extent, in stirring up and awakening a

zeal for scientific explorations and researches. The diurnal press,

however, gave this tone to the thing. The following is an extract:--[10]

[Footnote 10: A New York Statesman, Jan. 1821.]

"During the last year, an expedition was authorized by the National

Government, which left Detroit some time in the month of May, under the

personal orders of Governor Cass, of the Michigan Territory, provided

with the necessary means of making observations upon the topography,

natural history, and aborigines of the country. We have had an

opportunity of conversing with one of the gentlemen who accompanied

Governor Cass in the expedition, Mr. H.R. Schoolcraft, who has recently

returned to this city, bringing a large collection of mineral and other

substances, calculated to illustrate the natural history of the regions

visited. We learn that the party passed through Lake Superior, and

penetrated to the sources of the Mississippi, which have been, for the

first time, satisfactorily ascertained. In returning, they passed down

the Mississippi to Prairie du Chien, and thence came across to Green

Bay, by means of the Ouisconsin and Fox Rivers. Indian tribes were found

in every part of the country visited, by whom they were generally well

received, except at the Sault St. Marie, where a hostile disposition was

manifested. The country was found to present a great variety in its

soil, climate, productions, and the character of the savages, and the

information collected must prove highly interesting both to men of

business and men of science.

"It will be seen, by referring to an advertisement in our paper of

to-day, that Mr. Schoolcraft contemplates publishing an account of the

expedition, under the form of a personal narrative, embracing notices of

interesting scenery, the Indian tribes, topographical discoveries, the

quadrupeds, mineral productions, and geology of the country, accompanied

by an elegant map and a number of picturesque views. From an inspection

of the manuscript map and views, we are persuaded that no analogous

performances, of equal merit, have ever been submitted to the hands of

the engraver in this country. We have always been surprised that, while

we have had so many travelers through the Valley of the Ohio and Lower

Mississippi, no one should have thought of filling up the chasm in our

north-western geography. The field is certainly a very ample one--we

cannot but felicitate the public in having a person of the acknowledged

talents, industry, and original views of Mr. S. to supply the

deficiency."

At length Professor Douglass (Feb. 9th) responded to my proposition to

club our wits in a general work. "Your propositions relative to a joint

publication, meet my views precisely, and of course I am inclined to

believe we may make an interesting 'work.' In addition to the usual

heads of topographical and geographical knowledge, which I propose to

treat of, in my memoir on that subject, I am promised by Dr. Torrey some

of the valuable aid which it will be in his power to render for the

article 'Botany,' and our collections should furnish the materials of a

description of the fresh water conchology." His proposition was based on

giving a complete account of the animal and mineral constituents of the

country, its hydrography and resources; the paper on the aboriginal

tribes to be contributed by General Cass.

A difficulty is, however, denoted. "My duties here," he writes, "as they

engross everything at present, will force me to delay a little, and I am

in hopes, by so doing, to obtain some further data. I enter, in a few

days, on the discharge of my professional duties, under considerable

disadvantages, owing to the late introduction into our courses of some

French works on the highest branches of mathematics, which it falls to

my lot first to teach. Between French, therefore, and fluxions, and

moreover, the _French method of fluxions_, which is somewhat peculiar, I

have had my hands pretty full. I look forward to a respite in April."

The professor had, in fact, to teach his class as he taught himself, and

just kept ahead of them--a very hard task.

In the mean time, while this plan of an enlarged publication was kept in

view, I pushed my narrative forward. While it was going through the

press, almost every mail brought me something of interest respecting the

progress of scientific discovery. A few items may be noticed.

_Discovery of Strontian on Lake Erie_.--Mr. William A. Bird, of Troy, of

the Boundary Survey, writes (Jan. 22d):--

"On our return down the lake, last fall, we were becalmed near the

islands in Lake Erie. I took a boat, and, accompanied by Major

Delafield, Mr. A. Stevenson, and Mr. De Russey (who was to be our

guide), went in search of the strontian to the _main_ shore, where Mr.

De Russey says it was found in the summer of 1819. After an unsuccessful

search of an hour, we gave it up, and determined to return to our

vessel. On our way we stopped at Moss Island, when, immediately on

landing, we found the mineral in question. I wandered a little from the

others, and found the large bed of which I spoke to you. We there

procured large quantities, and some large crystals.

"This strontian was on the south side of Moss Island, in a horizontal

vein of three feet in thickness, and from forty to fifty feet in

length. I had no means of judging its depth into the rock. The base of

the island is wholly composed of limestone, in which shells scarcely, if

ever, appear."

_Conchology--Mineralized Fungus, &c._--Dr. Samuel L. Mitchell, of New

York, writes (Jan. 30th): "I was glad to receive your letter and the

accompanying articles, by the hand of Colonel Gardiner; but I am sorry

your business is such as to prevent your meditated visit to the city

until spring.

"I had a solemn conference with Mr. Barnes, our distinguished

conchologist, on the subject of your shells. We had Say's publication on

the land and fresh water molluscas before us. We believed the univalves

had been chiefly described by him; one, or probably two of the species

were not contained in his memoir. It would gratify me very much to

possess a complete collection of those molluscas. I gave Mr. Barnes, who

is an indefatigable collector, such duplicates as I could spare.

"I showed your sandy fungus to my class at the college yesterday. Our

medical school was never so flourishing, there being nearly two hundred

students. In the evening, I showed it to the lyceum. All the members

regretted your determination to stay the residue of the winter

in Albany.

"The little tortoise is referred, with a new and singular bird, to a

zoological committee for examination. The sulphate of strontian

is elegant.

"I am forming a parcel for Professor Schreibers, curator of the Austrian

emperor's cabinet at Vienna; the opportunity will be excellent to send

a few."

_Report on the Copper of Lake Superior_.--Professor Silliman, in

announcing a notice of my work on the mines, for the next number of the

_Journal of Science_, Feb. 5th, says: "I have written to the Secretary

of War, and he has given his consent to have your report appear in the

_Journal of Science_."

Governor Cass, of Michigan (Feb. 20th), expresses his thanks for a

manuscript copy of the MS. report. "I trust," he adds, "the report will

be published by the government. It would be no less useful and

satisfactory to the public than honorable to yourself." _Geology of

Western New York_.--Mr. Andrew McNabb, of Geneva (Feb. 26th), sends me

two separate memoirs on the mineralogy and geology of the country, to be

employed as materials in my contemplated memoir. The zeal and

intelligence of this gentleman have led him to outstrip every observer

who has entered into this field of local knowledge. Its importance to

the value of the lands, their mines, ores, resources, water power, and

general character, has led him to take the most enlarged views of

the subject.

"Pursue," he says, "my dear sir, your career, for it is an honorable

one. The world, bad as it is, has been much worse than now for authors;

and through the great reading public, there are many generous souls,

whose views are not confined to sordidness and self. May all your

laudable exertions be crowned with ample success--with pleasure and

profit to yourself and fellow-citizens!"

_Boulder of Copper_.--A large specimen of native copper from Lake

Superior, procured by me, forwarded to Mr. Calhoun, by General Stephen

Van Rensselaer, representative in Congress, was cut up by his

directions, and presented to the foreign ministers and gentlemen from

abroad; and thus the resources of the country made known. In a letter of

Feb. 27th, Mr. Calhoun acknowledges the receipt of it.

_Theoretical Geology_.--Mr. McNabb, in forwarding additional papers

relative to western geology, observes: "Have you seen Greenough's

_Essays on Geology?_ The reviewers speak of it as well as critics

usually do on such occasions. President Greenough has given a shock to

the 'Wernerian system;' his battery is pretty powerful, but he seems

more intent on _leveling_ than on building. The Wernerian system is very

beautiful, ingenious, and plausible, and I would almost regret its

demolition, unless it should be found to stand in the way of _truth_.

"Without some system or order in the investigation of nature's works and

nature's laws, the mind is puzzled and confounded, wandering, like

Noah's dove, over the face of the deep, without finding a resting-place.

What a pity that human knowledge and human powers are so limited!"

_Indian Symbolic Figures_.--Professor Douglass (March 17th) writes,

making some inquiries about certain symbolic figures on the Sioux bark

letter, found above Sank River.

_Expedition to the Yellow Stone_.--I fancy those western expeditions

intend to beat us all hollow, in _tough yarn_, as the sailors have it;

for it seems the Indian affair has got into the form of a newspaper

controversy already: vide _Aurora_ and _National Gazette._

_Mineralogy of Georgia_.--J. T. Johnston, Esq., of New York, writes

(March 23d) that he has made an arrangement for procuring minerals for

me from this part of the Union.

_Scientific Subjects_.--Mr. McNabb writes (March 27th): "I deeply regret

that so little attention is bestowed by our legislatures (State and

National) on objects of such importance as those which engage your

thoughts, while so much time, breath, and treasure are wasted on

frivolous subjects and party objects. How long must the patriot and

philanthropist sigh for the termination of such driveling and delusion!"

After a labor at my table of about fourteen weeks, the manuscript was

all delivered to my printers; and I returned to New York, and took up my

abode in my old quarters at 71 Courtland. The work was brought out on

the 20th of May, making an octavo volume of 419 pages, with six plates,

a map, and engraved title-page. Marks of the haste with which it was run

through the press were manifest, and not a few typographical errors.

Nobody was more sensible of this than myself, and of the value that more

time and attention would have imparted. But the public received it with

avidity, and the whole edition was disposed of in a short time.

Approbatory notices appeared in the principal papers and journals. The

_New York Columbian_ says:--

"The author has before given the public a valuable work upon the Lead

Mines of Missouri, and, if we mistake not, a book of instructions upon

the manufacture of glass. He is advantageously known as a man of science

and literary research, and well qualified to turn to beneficial account

the mass of information he must have collected in his tour through that

interesting part of the country, which has attracted universal

attention, though our knowledge of it has hitherto been extremely

limited. We think there is no fear that the just expectations of the

public will be disappointed; but that the book will be found to furnish

all the valuable and interesting information that the subject and

acquirements of the writer promised, conveyed in a chaste and easy style

appropriate for the journalist--occasionally enlivened by animating

descriptions of scenery. The author has not suffered his imagination to

run wild from a foolish vanity to win applause as a fine writer, when

the great object should be to give the reader a view of what he

describes, as far as language will permit, in the same light in which he

beheld it himself. He aims to give you a just and true account of what

he has seen and heard, and his book will be referred to as a record of

facts by the learned and scientific at home and abroad. It is a

production honorable to the country, and, if we mistake not, will

advance her reputation in the opinion of the fastidious reviewers of

Scotland and England, in spite of their deep-rooted prejudices."

Mr. Walsh, of the _National Gazette_, deems it a valuable addition to

this class of literature.

"Public attention," he remarks, "was much excited last year by the

prospectus of the expedition, of which Mr. Schoolcraft formed a part as

mineralogist, and whose journey he has now described. He remarks, in his

introduction, with truth, that but little detailed information was

before possessed of the extreme north-western region of the Union--of the

great chain of lakes--and of the sources of the Mississippi River, which

continued to be a subject of dispute between geographical writers. In

the autumn of 1819 Governor Cass, of Michigan Territory, projected an

expedition for exploring what was so imperfectly known, and yet so

worthy of being industriously surveyed.

"The Secretary of War--to whom Mr. Schoolcraft's book is appropriately

dedicated, with a just testimony to the liberal and enlightened

character of his official administration--not only admitted the plan of

Governor Cass, but furnished him with the means of carrying it into full

effect by providing an escort of soldiers and directing the commandants

of the frontier garrisons to furnish every aid, of whatever

description, which the party might require. To the Governor, as chief of

the expedition, he associated several gentlemen qualified to accomplish

its objects; which were--a more correct knowledge of the names, numbers,

customs, history, mode of subsistence, and dispositions of the Indian

tribes--the collection of materials for an accurate map of the

country--the investigation of the subject of the north-western copper and

lead mines, and gypsum quarries; and the acquisition, from the Indians,

of such tracts as might be necessary to secure the benefit of them to

the United States.

"In the course of last March, we published a letter of Governor Cass to

the Secretary of War, describing in a happy manner some of the scenes

and occurrences which fell within the observation or inquiry of the

expedition. Mr. Schoolcraft states, at the end of his introductory

remarks, that he does not profess to communicate _all_ the topographical

information collected, and that a special topographical report and map

may be expected, together with other reports and the scientific

observations of the expedition in general. We anticipate, therefore, an

ample and valuable accession to our stock of knowledge respecting so

important a portion of the American territory; and such evidence of the

utility of enterprises of the kind, as will inspire every branch of the

government with a desire to see them repeated with equipments and

facilities adapted to the most comprehensive research, and fitted to

render them creditable in their fruits to the national character abroad.

"The present narrative does not exhibit the author in his capacity of

mineralogist alone. In this he appears indeed more distinctively, and to

particular advantage; but he writes also as a general describer and

relater, and has furnished lively and ample accounts of the natural

objects, and novel, magnificent scenery which he witnessed; and of the

history, character, condition, and habits of the various Indian bands

whom he encountered in his route, or who belong especially to our

north-western territories."

I was deeply sensible of the exalted feelings and enlarged sentiments

with which these and other notices were written. The effect on my mind

was a sense of literary humility, and a desire to prove myself in any

future attempts of the kind in some measure worthy of them. Literary

candidates are not ever, perhaps, so much pleased or gratified by those

who render them exact justice, of which there is always some notion, as

by warm, liberal, or high-minded thoughts and commendations, which are

incentives to future labors.

_May 22d_.--General Cass had, before leaving Detroit, offered me the

situation of Secretary to the Commissioners appointed to confer with the

Indians at Chicago in the summer of 1821, with a view, primarily, to the

interesting and circuitous journey which it was his intention to make,

in order to reach the place of meeting. This offer, as the time drew on,

he now put in the shape of a letter, which I determined at once to

accept, and made my arrangements to leave the city without loss of time.

It was proposed to be at Detroit the 1st of July. The tour would lie

through the valleys of the Miami of the lakes, and the Wabash, which

interlock at the Fort Wayne summit; then across the Grand Prairie of the

Illinois to St. Louis, and up the Illinois River from its mouth to its

source. This would give me a personal knowledge of three great valleys,

which I had not before explored, and connect my former southern

explorations in Arkansas and Missouri with those of the great lake

basins and the upper Mississippi. I had been at the sources and the

mouth of that great river, and I had now the opportunity to complete the

knowledge of its central portions. It was with the utmost avidity,

therefore, that I turned my face again towards the West.

Mr. Calhoun, who was written to on the subject, concurred in this plan,

and extended the time for the completion of my geological report.

_Joint Work on the Scientific Results of the Expedition of 1820_.--

General Cass, who had been written to, thus expresses himself on this

subject:--

"Captain Douglass has informed me that you and he meditate a joint work,

which shall comprise those objects, literary and scientific, which could

not properly find a place in a diurnal narrative. At what time is this

work to appear, and what are its plan and objects? My observations and

inquiries respecting the Indians will lead me much further than I

intended or expected. If I can prepare anything upon that subject prior

to the appearance of the work, I shall be happy to do it."

_Geological Survey of Dutchess County_.--Dr. Benjamin Allen, of Hyde

Park, writes to me (June 4th) on this subject, urging me to undertake

the survey; but the necessity of closing my engagements in the West

rendered it impossible.

_Expedition of_ 1820.--Dr. Mitchell furnishes me opinions upon some of

the scientific objects collected by me and my associates in the

north-west in 1820:--

"The Squirrel sent by General Cass is a species not heretofore

described, and has been named by Dr. Mitchell the _federation squirrel_,

or _sciurus tredecem striatus_.

"The Pouched Rat, or _mus bursarius_, has been seen but once in Europe.

This was a specimen sent to the British Museum from Canada, and

described by Dr. Shaw. But its existence is rather questioned by

Charles Cuvier.

"Both animals have been described and the descriptions published in the

21st Vol. of the _Medical Repository_ of New York, p. 248 _et seq_. The

specimens are both preserved in my museum. Drawings have been executed

by the distinguished artist Milbert, and forwarded by him at my request

to the administrators of the King's Museum, at Paris, of which he is a

corresponding member. My descriptions accompany them. The originals are

retained as too valuable to be sent out of the country.

"The Paddle Fish is the _spatularia_ of Shaw and _polyodon_ of Lacepede.

It lives in the Mississippi only, and the skeleton, though incomplete,

is better than any other person here possesses. It is carefully

preserved in my collection.

"The Serpent is a species of the Linnaean genus Anguis, the _orveto_ of

the French, and the _blind worm_ of the English. The loss of the tail of

this fragile creature may render an opinion a little dubious, but it is

supposed to be an _ophias aureus_ of Dandin, corresponding to the Anguis

ventralis of Linn, figured by Catesby.

"The shells afford a rich amount of undescribed species. The whole of

the univalves and bivalves received from Messrs. Schoolcraft and

Douglass, have been assembled, and examined with all I possessed before,

and with Mr. Stacy Collins's molluscas brought from Ohio. Mr. Barnes is

charged with describing and delineating all the species not contained

in Mr. Say's memoir on these productions of the land and fresh waters of

North America. The finished work will be laid before the Lyceum, and

finally be printed in Silliman's New Haven _Journal_. The species with

which zoology will be enriched will amount probably to nine or ten. We

shall endeavor to be just to our friends and benefactors.

"The pipe adorns my mantelpiece, and is much admired by connoisseurs."

CHAPTER VII.

Trip through the Miami of the lakes, and the Wabash Valley--Cross the

grand prairie of Illinois--Revisit the mines--Ascend the

Illinois--Fever--Return through the great lakes--Notice of the

"Trio"--Letter from Professor Silliman--Prospect of an appointment under

government--Loss of the "Walk-in-the-Water"--Geology of Detroit--Murder

of Dr. Madison by a Winnebago Indian.

1821. I left New York for Chicago on the 16th June--hurried rapidly

through the western part of that State--passed up Lake Erie from

Buffalo, and reached Detroit just in season to embark, on the 4th of

July. General Cass was ready to proceed, with his canoe-elege in the

water. We passed, the same day, down the Detroit River, and through the

head of Lake Erie into the Maumee Bay to Port Lawrence, the present

site, I believe, of the city of Toledo. This was a distance of seventy

miles, a prodigious day's journey for a canoe. But we were shot along by

a strong wind, which was fair when we started, but had insensibly

increased to a gale in Lake Erie, when we found it impossible to turn to

land without the danger of filling. The wind, though a gale, was still

directly aft. On one occasion I thought we should have gone to the

bottom, the waves breaking in a long series, above our heads, and

rolling down our breasts into the canoe. I looked quietly at General

Cass, who sat close on my right, but saw no alarm in his countenance.

"That was a fatherly one," was his calm expression, and whatever was

thought, little was said. We weathered and entered the bay silently, but

with feelings such as a man may be supposed to have when there is but a

step between him and death.

We ascended the Miami Valley, through scenes renowned by the events of

two or three wars. I walked over the scene of Dudley's defeat in 1812;

of Wayne's victory in 1793; and of the sites of forts Deposit and

Defiance, and other events celebrated in history. From Fort Defiance,

which is at the junction of the River _Auglaize_, we rode to Fort Wayne,

sleeping in a deserted hut half way. We passed the summit to the source

of the Wabash, horseback, sleeping at an Indian house, where all the men

were drunk, and kept up a howling that would have done credit to a pack

of hungry wolves. The Canadians, who managed our canoe, in the mean time

brought it from water to water on their shoulders, and we again

embarked, leaving our horses at the forks of the Wabash. The whole of

this long and splendid valley, then wild and in the state of nature,

till below the Tippecanoe, we traversed, day by day, stopping at

Vincennes, Terrehaute, and a hundred other points, and entered the Ohio

and landed safely at Shawneetown. Here it was determined to send the

Canadians with our canoe, round by water to St. Louis, while we hired a

sort of stage-wagon to cross the prairies. I visited the noted locality

of fluor spar in Pope County, Illinois, and crossing the mountainous

tract called the Knobs, rejoined the party at the Saline. Here I found

my old friend Enmenger, of Kemp and Keen memory, to be the innkeeper. On

reaching St. Louis, General Cass rode over the country to see the

Missouri, while I, in a sulky, revisited the mines in Washington, and

brought back a supply of its rich minerals. We proceeded in our canoe up

the River Illinois to the rapids, at what is called Fort Rock, or

Starved Rock, and from thence, finding the water low, rode on horseback

to Chicago, horses having been sent, for this purpose, from Chicago to

meet us. There was not a house from Peoria to John Craft's, four miles

from Chicago. I searched for, and found, the fossil tree, reported to

lie in the rocks in the bed of the river _Des Plaines_. The sight of

Lake Michigan, on nearing Chicago, was like the ocean. We found an

immense number of Indians assembled. The Potawattomies, in their gay

dresses and on horseback, gave the scene an air of Eastern magnificence.

Here we were joined by Judge Solomon Sibley, the other commissioner from

Detroit, whence he had crossed the peninsula on horseback, and we

remained in negotiation with the Indians during fifteen consecutive

days. A treaty was finally signed by them on the 24th of August, by

which, for a valuable consideration in annuities and goods, they ceded

to the United States about five millions of acres of choice lands.

Before this negotiation was finished, I was seized with bilious fever,

and consequently did not sign the treaty. It was of the worst bilious

type, and acute in its character. I did not, indeed, ever expect to make

another entry in a human journal. But a vigorous constitution at length

prevailed, and weeks after all the party had left the ground, I was

permitted to embark in a vessel called the Decatur on the 23d of

September for Detroit. We reached Michilimackinack the seventh day of

our voyage, and returned to Detroit on the 6th of October. The incidents

and observations of this journey have been given to the public under the

title "Travels in the Central Portions of the Mississippi Valley" (1

vol. pp. 459, 8vo.: New York).

I still felt the effects of my illness on reaching Detroit, where I

remained a few days before setting out for New York. On reaching Oneida

County, where I stopped to recruit my strength, I learned that some

envious persons, who shielded themselves under the name of "Trio," had

attacked my _Narrative Journal_, in one of the papers during my absence.

The attack was not of a character to demand a very grave notice, and was

happily exposed by Mr. Carter, in some remarks in the columns of the

_Statesman_, which first called my attention to the subject.

"A trio of writers," he observes, in his paper of 17th August, "in the

_Daily Advertiser_ of Wednesday, have commenced an attack on the

_Narrative Journal_ of Mr. Schoolcraft, lately published in this city.

We should feel excessively mortified for the literary reputation of our

country, if it took any _three_ of our writers to produce such a

specimen of criticism as the article alluded to; and 'for charity's

sweet sake,' we will suppose that by a typographical error the signature

is printed _Trio_ instead of _Tyro_. At any rate, the essay,

notwithstanding all its _wes_ and _ours_, bears the marks of being the

effort of _one_ smatterer, rather than the joint production of _three_

critics, as the name imports."

The Trio (if we admit there are _tria juncta in uno_, in this knot of

savans) pretend to be governed by patriotic motives in attacking Mr.

Schoolcraft. 'In what we have said, our object has been to expose error,

and to shield _ourselves_ from the imputation which would justly be

thrown upon _ourselves_.' The construction of this sentence reminds us

of the exordium of Deacon Strong's speech at Stonington--'_the

generality of mankind in general_ endeavor to try to take the

disadvantage of _the generality of mankind in general_.' But not to

indulge in levities on so grave a subject, we are happy in the belief

that the reputation of our country does not demand the condemnation of

Schoolcraft's _Journal_, as a proof of our taste, nor need such a shield

as the trio have interposed, to protect it from the attacks of foreign

reviewers:--

'Non tali auxilio, nec defensoribus istis

Tempus eget.'

It affords us great pleasure to relieve the anxiety of the Trio on the

subject of shielding 'ourselves from the imputation which would be

justly thrown upon ourselves,' by stating that one of the most

scientific gentlemen in the United States wrote to the publishers of

Schoolcraft's _Journal_, not a week since, for a copy of the work to

send to Paris, adding to his request, _the work is so valuable that I

doubt not it would be honorably noticed_.

"We have not taken the trouble to examine the passages to which the Trio

have referred; for, admitting that a trifling error has been detected in

an arithmetical calculation--that a few plants (or _vegetables_, as this

botanist calls them) have been described as new, which were before

known--and that in the haste of composition some verbal errors may have

escaped the author, yet these slight defects do not detract essentially

from the merit of the work, or prove that it has improperly been

denominated a scientific, valuable, and interesting volume. Our sage

critics are not aware how many and whom they include in the denunciation

of 'a few men who _pretend_ to all the knowledge, all the wisdom of the

country;' if by a _few_ they mean all who have spoken in the most

favorable terms of Mr. Schoolcraft's book.

"One word in respect to the 'candor' of the Trio, and we have done. It

would seem to have been more candid, and the disavowal of 'an intention

to injure' would have been more plausible, if the attack had been

commenced when the author was present to defend himself, and not when he

is in the depth of a wilderness, remote from his assailants and ignorant

of their criticisms. But we trust he has left many friends behind who

will promptly and cheerfully defend his reputation till his return."

On reading the pieces, I found them to be based in a petty spirit of

fault-finding, uncandid, illiberal, and without wit, science, or

learning. It is said in a book, which my critics did not seem to have

caught the spirit of--"Should not the multitude of words be answered,

and should a man fall if talk be justified? Should thy lies make men

hold their peace, and when thou mockest shall no man make thee ashamed?"

(Job xi. 2, 3.) My blood boiled. I could have accepted and approved

candid and learned and scientific criticism. I replied in the papers,

pointing out the gross illiberality of the attack, and tried to provoke

a discovery of the authors. But they were still as death; the mask that

had been assumed to shield envy, hypercriticism, and falsehood, there

was neither elevation of moral purpose, courage, nor honor, to

lay aside.

In the mean time, all my correspondents and friends sustained me. Men of

the highest standing in science and letters wrote to me. A friend of

high standing, in a note from Washington (Oct. 24th) congratulating me

on my recovery from the fever at Chicago, makes the following allusion

to this concealed and spiteful effort: "When in Albany I procured from

Mr. Webster copies of them (the pieces), with a view to say something in

the papers, had it been necessary. But, from their character and effect,

this would have been wholly unnecessary. They have fallen still-born

from the press."

Mr. Carter (Oct. 28th) says: "G. C. was at my room, and spoke of the

numbers with the utmost contempt, and thought they were not worth

noticing. The same opinion is entertained by everyone whom I have heard

speak on the subject. Chancellor Kent told me that your book is the most

interesting he has ever read, and that the attack on it amounts to

nothing. Others have paid it the same compliment, and I think your fame

is in no danger of being injured by the Trio."

Mr. Baldwin, a legal gentleman of high worth and standing, made the

following observations in one of the city papers, under the signature of

"Albanian":--

"True criticism is a liberal and humane art, and teaches no less to

point out and admire what is deserving of applause, than to detect and

expose blemishes and defects. If this be a correct definition of

criticism, and 'Trio' were capable of filling the office he has assumed,

I am of opinion that a different judgment would have been pronounced

upon Mr. Schoolcraft's book of travels; and that they would have been

justly eulogized, and held up for the perusal of every person at all

anxious about acquiring an intimate knowledge of the interesting

country through which he traveled, and which he so ably and beautifully

described. It is certainly true, that we abound in snarling critics,

whose chief delight is in finding fault with works of native production;

and though it is not my business to tread upon their corns, I could wish

they might ever receive that castigation and contempt which they merit

from a liberal and enlightened public. In the first article which

appeared in your useful paper, over the signature of 'Trio,' I thought I

discovered only the effervescence of a pedantic and caviling

disposition; but, when I find that writer making false and erroneous

statements, and drawing deductions therefrom unfavorable to Mr.

Schoolcraft, I deprecate the evil, and invite the public to a free and

candid investigation of the truth. Not satisfied with detracting from

the merits of Mr. Schoolcraft's work, 'Trio' indulges in some bitter and

illiberal remarks upon those gentlemen who composed the Yellow Stone

River expedition; and to show how little qualified he is for the

subject, I will venture to declare him ignorant of the very first

principles upon which that expedition was organized."

So much for the "Trio." No actual discovery of the authors was made; but

from information subsequently obtained, it is believed that their names

are denoted under the anagram LENICTRA.

Other criticisms of a different stamp were, however, received from high

sources, speaking well of the work, which may here be mentioned.

Professor Silliman writes from New Haven, November 22d: "I perused your

travels with great satisfaction; they have imparted to me a great deal

of information and pleasure. Could any scientific friend of yours

(Captain Douglass, for instance) prepare a notice, or a review, I would

cheerfully insert it.

"In reading your travels, I marked with a pencil the scientific notices,

and especially those on mineralogy and geology, thinking that I might at

a future period embody them into an article for the journal. Would it

not be consistent with your time and occupations to do this, and forward

me the article? I would be greatly pleased also to receive from you a

notice of the fluor spar from Illinois; of the fossil tree; and, in

short, any of your scientific or miscellaneous observations, which you

may see fit to intrust to the pages of the journal, I shall be happy to

receive, and trust they would not have a disadvantageous introduction to

the world."

How different is this in its spirit and temper from the flimsy thoughts

of the Trio!

_Literary Honors_.--Dr. Alfred S. Monson, of New Haven, informs me

(November 23d) of my election as a member of the American Geological

Society. Mr. Austin Abbott communicates notice of my election as a

member of the Hudson Lyceum of Natural History.

_Appointment under Government_.--A friend in high confidence at

Washington writes (November 4th): "The proposition to remove from

Sackett's Harbor to the Sault of St. Mary a battalion of the army, and

to establish a military post at the latter place, has been submitted by

Mr. Calhoun to the President. The pressure of other subjects has

required an investigation and decision since his return; so that he has

not yet been able to examine this matter. Mr. Calhoun is himself

decidedly in favor of the measure, and I have no doubt but that such

will be the result of the Presidential deliberation. The question is too

plain, and the considerations connected with it too obvious and

important, to allow any prominent difficulties to intrude themselves

between the conception and the execution of the measure. If a post be

established, it is almost certain that an Indian agency will be located

there, and, in the event, it is quite certain that you will be appointed

the agent."

_Loss of the "Walk-in-the-water."_--This fine steamer was wrecked near

the foot of Lake Erie, in November. A friend in Detroit writes (November

17th): "This accident maybe considered as one of the greatest

misfortunes which have ever befallen Michigan, for in addition to its

having deprived us of all certain and speedy communication with the

civilized world, I am fearful it will greatly check the progress of

emigration and improvement. They speak of _three_ new boats on Lake Erie

next season; I hope they may be erected, but such reports are always

exaggerated."

_Geology of Detroit_.--"No accurate measurement that I can find has ever

been made of the height of the bank of the river at this place. As near

as I can ascertain, however, from those who have endeavored to obtain

correct information respecting it, and from my own judgment, I should

suppose the base of the pillars at the upper end of the market-house,

which stand three hundred feet from the water's edge, to be thirty-three

feet above the surface of the river. The bank is of a gentle descent

towards the water, and gradually recedes from the river for one mile

above the lower line of the city.

"In digging a well in the north-east part of the city, in the street near

the Council House, the loam appeared to be about a foot and a half deep.

The workmen then passed through a stratum of blue clay of eight or ten

feet, when they struck a vein of coarse sand, eight inches in thickness,

through which the water entered so fast, as to almost prevent them from

going deeper. They, however, proceeded through another bed of blue clay,

twenty or twenty-two feet, and came to a fine yellow sand, resembling

quicksand, into which they dug three feet and stopped, having found

sufficient water. The whole depth of the well was thirty-three feet.

"The water is clear, and has no bad taste. No vegetable or other remains

were found, and only a few small stones and pebbles, such as are on the

shores of the river. A little coarse dark sand and gravel were found

below the last bed of clay, on the top of the yellow sand."

The boring for water in 1830 was extended, on the Fort Shelby plateau,

260 feet. After passing ten feet of alluvion, the auger passed through

115 feet of blue clay, with quicksand, then two of beach sand and

pebbles, when the limestone rock was struck. It was geodiferous for

sixty feet, then lies sixty-five, then a carbonate of lime eight feet,

at which depth the effort was relinquished unsuccessfully.--_Historical

and Scientific Sketches of Michigan_.

"_Bed of the Detroit River_.--I am induced to believe the bed of the

River Detroit is clay, from the fact that it affords good anchorage for

vessels. Neither limestone nor any other rock has ever been

discovered in it."

_Murder of Dr. Madison._--A gentleman at the West writes to me (Nov.

17): "As to the murder of Dr. Madison, the facts were, that he started

from Green Bay, with three soldiers, to go to Chicago, and from thence

to his wife in Kentucky, who, during his absence, had added 'one' to the

family. The Indian Ke-taw-kah had left the bay the day previous, had

passed the Indian village on the Manatoowack River, on his way to

Chebiogan on the west side of Lake Michigan, to see a relative, but had

turned back. When the Doctor met him, he was standing by the side of a

tree, apparently unemployed. The Indian, says the Doctor, addressed him,

and said something, from which he understood they wanted them to guide

him to Chicago. As he knew he should get something to eat from them, he

concluded he would go with them as far as Chebiogan. Accordingly, he

fell in with the party about 2 P.M., and walked on until they had passed

the Manatoowack River, about three miles.

"They came to a small rise of ground, over which two of the soldiers had

passed, and the other was by the side of the Doctor's horse, and both

were just on the top. The Indian was about two rods in the rear, and was

at the foot of the hill, when a gun was fired in the rear, and Madison

received the charge in his shoulders and in the back of his neck, and

immediately fell from his horse. The Indian instantly disappeared. The

Doctor exclaimed, 'Oh! why has that Indian shot me? I never did him or

any of them any injury. To kill me, too, when I was just returning to my

wife and my little child, which I have never seen! It is more painful

than death.' His conversation was very pathetic, as related by the

soldier, and all who heard him were greatly affected.

"The Indian says he shot him without any cause or malice; that the

thought came into his head, about two minutes before, that he would kill

one of the four; and when he saw the Doctor on the top of the hill, he

concluded he would fire at him, to see how pretty he would fall off

his horse."

These things transpired late in the fall. I did not reach Albany till

late in December, and immediately began to prepare my geological report.

CHAPTER VIII.

New-Yearing--A prospect opened--Poem of Ontwa--Indian biography--Fossil

tree--Letters from various persons--Notice of Ontwa--Professor

Silliman--Gov. Clinton--Hon. J. Meigs--Colonel Benton--Mr.

Dickenson--Professor Hall--Views of Ex-presidents Madison, Jefferson,

and Adams on geology--Geological notices--Plan of a gazetteer--Opinions

of my _Narrative Journal_ by scientific gentlemen--The impostor John Dun

Hunter--Trip up the Potomac--Mosaical chronology--Visit to Mount Vernon.

1822. _Jan. 1st_.--I spent this day a New-Yearing. Albany is a dear

place for the first of January; not only the _houses_ of every one, but

the _hearts_ of every one seem open on this day. It is no slight praise

to say that one day out of the three hundred and sixty-five is

consecrated to general hospitality and warm-hearted cordiality. If St.

Nicholas was the author of this custom, he was a social saint; and the

custom seems to be as completely kept up on the banks of the Hudson as

it ever could have been on the banks of the Rhine.

_Jan. 5th_.--My experience is that he who would rise, in science or

knowledge, must toil incessantly; it is the price at which success sells

her favors. During the last four years, I have passed not less than ten

thousand miles, and in all this time I have scarcely lain down one night

without a feeling that the next day's success must depend upon a fresh

appeal to continued effort. My pathway has certainly not lain over beds

of gold, nor my pillow been composed of down. And yet my success has

served to raise the envy and malignity of some minds. True, these have

been small minds; while a just appreciation and approval have marked the

course of the exalted and enlightened. A friend writes from Washington,

this day, assuring me that I am not forgotten in high quarters. "The

occupation," he says, "of the _Sault_ has been decided on, and I have

but little doubt of your appointment to the agency. Make your mind easy.

I am certain the government will not forget you, and I never can. I

shall not lose sight of your interest a moment."

Thus, while an envious little clique here has, in my absence,

clandestinely thrown most uncandid censure upon me and my labors, a

vista of honor is presented to my hopes from a higher source.

While recovering from the prostrating effects of my Chicago fever, I had

drawn up a memoir for the American Geological Society, which had made me

a member, on the fossil tree observed in the stratification of the Des

Plaines, of the Illinois, and took the occasion of being detained here

in making my report, to print it, and circulate copies. It appeared to

be a good opportunity, while calling attention to the fact described, to

connect it with the system of secondary rocks, as explained by

geologists. In this way, the occurrence of perhaps a not absolutely

unique phenomenon is made a vehicle of conveying geological information,

which is now sought with avidity in the country. This step brought me

many correspondents of note.

Mr. Madison (Ex-President United States) writes (Jan. 22): "The present

is a very inquisitive age, and its researches of late have been ardently

directed to the primitive composition and structure of our globe, as far

as it has been penetrated, and to the processes by which succeeding

changes have been produced. The discoveries already made are

encouraging; but vast room is left for the further industry and sagacity

of geologists. This is sufficiently shown by the opposite theories which

have been espoused; one of them regarding water, the other fire, as the

great agent employed by nature in her work.

"It may well be expected that this hemisphere, which has been least

explored, will yield its full proportion of materials towards a

satisfactory system. Your zealous efforts to share in the contributions

do credit to your love of truth and devotion to the cause of science,

and I wish they may be rewarded with the success they promise, and with

all the personal gratifications to which they entitle you."

Mr. Jefferson (Ex-President United States) sends a note of thanks (Jan.

26th) in the following words: "It is a valuable element towards the

knowledge we wish to obtain of the crust of the globe we inhabit; and,

as crust alone is immediately interesting to us, we are only to guard

against drawing our conclusions deeper than we dig. You are entitled to

the thanks of the lovers of science for the preservation of this fact."

Mr. John Adams (Ex-President United States, Jan. 27th) says: "I thank

you for your memoir on the fossil tree, which is very well written; and

the conjectures on the processes of nature in producing it are plausible

and probable.

"I once lay a week wind-bound in Portland road, in England, and went

often ashore, and ascended the mountain from whence they get all the

Portland stone that they employ in building. In a morning walk with some

of the American passengers from the Lucretia, Captain Calehan, we passed

by a handsome house, at the foot of the hill, with a handsome front yard

before it. Upon the top of one of the posts of this yard lay a fish,

coiled up in a spiral figure, which caught my eye. I stopped and gazed

at it with some curiosity. Presently a person, in the habit and

appearance of a substantial and well-bred English gentleman, appeared at

his door and addressed me. 'Sir, I perceive that your attention is fixed

on my fish. That is a conger eel--a species that abounds in these seas;

we see them repeatedly, at the depth of twelve feet water, lying exactly

in that position. That stone, as it now appears, was dug up from the

bowels of this mountain, at the depth of twenty feet below the surface,

in the midst of the rocks. Now, sir,' said he, 'at the time of the

deluge, these neighboring seas were thrown up into that mountain, and

this fish, lying at the bottom, was thrown up with the rest, and then

petrified, in the very posture in which he lay.'

"I was charmed with the eloquence of this profound philosopher, as well

as with his civility, and said that I could not account for the

phenomenon by any more plausible or probable hypothesis.

"This is a lofty hill and very steep, and in the road up and down, there

are flat and smooth rocks of considerable extent. The commerce in

Portland stone frequently calls for huge masses, from ten to fifteen

tons weight. These are loaded on very strong wheels, and drawn by ten or

twelve pair of horses. When they come to one of those flat rocks on the

side of the hill where the descent is steep, they take off six or eight

pair of horses, and attach them behind the wagon, and lash them up hill,

while one or two pair of horses in front have to drag the wagon and its

load and six or eight pair of horses behind it, backwards.

"I give you this history by way of comment on Dr. Franklin's famous

argument against a mixed government. That great man ought not to have

quoted this as a New England custom, because it was an English practice

before New England existed, and is a happy illustration of the necessity

of a balanced government.

"And since I have mentioned Dr. Franklin, I will relate another fact

which I had from his mouth. When he lived at Passy, a new quarry of

stone was opened in the garden of Mr. Ray de Chaumont, and, at the depth

of twenty feet, was found among the rocks a shark's tooth, in perfect

preservation, which I suppose my Portland friend would account for as he

did for his conger eel, though the tooth was not petrified."

Thus, my memoir was the cause of the expression of opinions and facts

from distinguished individuals, which possess an interest distinct from

the bearing of such opinions on geology.

Mr. Carter, who has just transferred the publication of the _Statesman_

from Albany to New York, writes (Jan. 10th) from the latter city, urging

me to hasten my return to that city.

_Poem on the theme of the Aborigines_.--"I have," he remarks, "read

Ontwa, the Indian poem you spoke to me about last summer. The notes by

Governor Cass are extremely interesting, and written in a superior

style. I shall notice the work in a few days."

_Geology of New York Island_.--"I wish you to give me an article on the

mineralogy and geology of Manhattan Island, in the form of a letter

purporting to be by a foreign traveler. (See Appendix, No. 2.) It is my

intention to give a series of letters, partly by myself and partly by

others, which shall take notice of everything in and about the city

which may be deemed interesting. I wish to begin at the foundation by

giving a geographical and geological sketch of the Island."

_Indian Biography_.--"Colonel Haines also wishes you to unite with him

and myself, in writing a series of sketches of celebrated Indians."

Professor Silliman writes (Jan. 20th), acknowledging the receipt of a

memoir on the fossil tree of the River Des Plaines, which was prepared

for the American Geological Society. He requests me to furnish him a

copy of my memoir on the geology of the regions visited by the recent

expedition, or, if it be too long for the purposes of the _American

Journal_, an abstract of it.

_Animal Impressions in Limestone_.--"I am much obliged to you for your

kind intention of furnishing me with a paper on the impressions in

limestone, and I hope you will bear it in mind, and execute it

accordingly.

"I have observed the appointment which the newspapers state that you

have received from the government, and regret that it carries you so far

south,[11] into an unhealthy climate; wishing you, however, health and

leisure to pursue those studies which you have hitherto prosecuted so

successfully."

[Footnote 11: This is evidently an allusion to St. Mary's, in Georgia,

instead of Michigan.]

Professor Frederick Hall, of Middlebury College, addresses me (Jan.

14th) on the same subject. He alludes to my treatise "On the Mines,

Minerals, &c., of the western section of the United States;" a work for

which our country and the world are deeply indebted to your enlightened

enterprise and unrelaxing zeal. Before reading it, I had a very

inadequate conception of the actual extent and riches of the lead mines

of the West. It seems, according to your account, that these mines are

an exhaustless source of wealth to the United States. "I should feel glad

to have them put under your superintendence; and to have you nurture up

a race of expert mineralogists, and become a Werner among them."

Professor Silliman writes (Jan. 25th): "When I wrote you last, I had not

been able to procure your memoir on the fossil tree. I read it, however,

immediately after, and was so much pleased with it, that I extracted the

most important parts in the _American Journal_, giving credit, of

course, to you and to the Geological Society."

_Jan. 29th_. Chester Dewy, Professor, &c., in Williams College, Mass.,

writes a most kind and friendly letter, in which he presents various

subjects, in the great area of the West, visited by me.

_Chalk Formation_.--"Mr. Jessup, of Philadelphia, told me that he

believed you doubted respecting the _chalk_ of Missouri, in which you

found nodules of flints. I wish to ask if this be fact. From the

situation, and characters and uses, you might easily be led into a

mistake, for such a bed of any other earth would be far less to be

expected, and be also a far greater curiosity."

_Petrosilex, &c._--"By the way, I received from Dr. Torrey a curious

mixture of petrosilex and prehnite in radiating crystals, which was sent

him by you, and collected at the West. He did not tell me the name, but

examination showed me what it was."

_Tufa from Western New York_.--"To day, a Quaker from Sempronius, New

York, has shown me some fine tufa. I mention it, because you may, in

your travels, be able to see it. He says it covers an acre or more to a

great depth, is burned into excellent lime with great ease, and is very

valuable, as no good limestone is found near them. Some of it is very

soft, like agaric mineral, and would be so called, were it not

associated with beautiful tufa of a harder kind."

_Geology of America_.--"You have explored in fine situations, to extend

the knowledge of the geology of our country, and have made great

discoveries. I congratulate you on what you have been able to do; I hope

you may be able, if you wish it, to add still more to our knowledge."

_Jan. 29th_. Mr. McNabb says: "I have just received a specimen of

excellent pit-coal from Tioga county, Pennsylvania, near the head of the

south branch of the Tioga River, and about twenty miles south from

Painted Post, in Steuben County. The quantity is said to be

inexhaustible, and what renders it of still greater importance is, that

arks and rafts descend from within four or five miles of the mines."

_New Gazetteer of New York_.--Mr. Carter writes (Feb. 5th)

inauspiciously of the course of affairs at Washington, as not favoring

the spirit of exploration. He proposes, in the event of my not receiving

the contemplated appointment, the plan of a Gazetteer of New York, on an

enlarged and scientific basis. "I have often expressed to you my opinion

of the Spafford Gazetteer of this State. It is wholly unworthy of public

patronage, and would not stand in the way of a good work of the kind;

and such a one, I have the vanity to believe, our joint efforts could

produce. It would be a permanent work, with slight alterations, as the

State might undergo changes. My plan would be for you to travel over the

State, and make a complete mineralogical, and geological, and

statistical survey of it, which would probably take you a year or more.

In the mean time, I would devote all my leisure to the collection and

arrangement of such other materials as we should need in the compilation

of the work."

_Feb. 18th_. Professor Dewy writes, vindicating my views of the

Huttonian doctrines, respecting the formation of secondary rocks, which

he had doubted, on the first perusal of my memoir of the fossil tree

of Illinois.

_Feb. 20th_. Caleb Atwater, Esq., of Circleville, Ohio, the author of

the antiquarian papers in the first volume of _Archaeologiae Americana_,

writes on the occasion of my geological memoir. He completely confounds

the infiltrated specimen of an entire tree, in the external strata, and

of a recent age, which is prominently described in my paper, with

ordinary casts and impressions of organic remains in the elder secondary

rock column.

_Feb. 24th_. Mr. McNabb communicates further facts and discoveries of

the mineral wealth, resources, and prospects of Western New York and

Pennsylvania.

* * * * *

_Narrative Journal_.--Professor Silliman (March 5th) communicates an

extract of a letter to him from Daniel Wadsworth, Esq., of Hartford, to

whom he had loaned my _Narrative_.

"I have been very much entertained with the tour to the western lakes. I

think Mr. Schoolcraft writes in a most agreeable manner; there is such

an entire absence of affectation in all he says, as well as his manner

of saying it, that no one can help being exceedingly pleased, even if

the book had not in any other respect a great deal of merit. The whole

seems such real and such absolute matter of fact, that I feel as if I

had performed the journey with the traveller.

"All I regret about it is that it was not consistent with his plans to

tell us more of what might be considered the _domestic_ part of the

expedition, the character and conduct of those who were of the party,

their health, difficulties, opinions, and treatment of each other, &c.

&c. As his book was a sort of official work, I suppose he thought this

would not do, and I wish he now would give his friends (and let us be

amongst them) a manuscript of the particulars that are not for the

public. Mrs. W. has also been as much pleased as myself."

Under the date of March 22d, Sir Humphrey Davy, in a private letter to

Dr. Hosack, says:--

"Mr. Schoolcraft's narrative is admirable, both for the facts it

develops and for the simplicity and clearness of the details; he has

accomplished great things by such means, and offers a good model for a

traveler in a new country. I lent his book to our veteran philosophical

geographer, Major Rennel, who was highly pleased with it; copies of it

would sell well in England."

Dr. Silliman apprises me that Professor Douglass expects my geological

report as part of his work.

Having now finished my geological report, I determined to take it to

Washington. On reaching New York, I took lodgings at the Franklin House,

then a private boarding-house, where my friends, Mr. Carter and Colonel

Haines, had rooms. While here, I was introduced one day to a man who

subsequently attracted a good deal of notice as a literary impostor.

This was a person named Hunter. He said that he derived this name from

his origin in the Indian country. He had a soft, compliant, half

quizzical look, and appeared to know nothing precisely, but dealt in

vague accounts and innuendoes. Having gone to London, the booksellers

thought him, it appears, a good subject for a book, and some hack was

employed to prepare it. It had a very slender basis in any observations

which this man was capable of furnishing; but abounded in misstatements

and vituperation of the policy of this government respecting the

Indians. This fellow is handled in the Oct. No. of the _North American

Review_, for 1825, in a manner which gives very little encouragement to

literary adventurers and cheats. The very man, John Dunn, of Missouri,

after whom he affected to have been named, denies that he ever heard

of him.

I had, thus far, seen but little of the Atlantic, except what could be

observed in a trip from New Orleans to New York, and knew very little of

its coasts by personal examination. I had never seen more of the

Chesapeake than could be shown from the head of that noble bay, and

wished to explore the Valley of the Potomac. For this purpose, I took

passage in a coasting vessel at New York, and had a voyage of a novel

and agreeable kind, which supplied me with the desired information. At

Old Point Comfort, I remained at the hotel while the vessel tarried. In

ascending the Potomac one night, while anchored, a negro song was wafted

in the stillness of the atmosphere. I could distinctly hear the

following words:--

Gentlemen, he come from de Maryland shore,

See how massa gray mare go.

Go, gray, go,

Go, gray, go;

See how massa gray mare go.

I reached Washington late in March, and sent in my geological report on

the 2d of April. Mr. Calhoun, who acknowledged it on the 6th, referred

it to the Topographical Bureau. Some question, connected with the

establishment of an agency in Florida, complicated my matter. Otherwise

it appeared to be a mere question of time. The Secretary of War left me

no room to doubt that his feelings were altogether friendly. Mr. Monroe

was also friendly.

_Additional Judicial District in Michigan_.--J.D. Doty, Esq., wrote to

me (April 8th) on this subject. So far as my judgment and observation

went, they were favorable to this project. Besides, if I was to become

an inhabitant of the district, as things now boded, it would be

desirable to me to dwell in a country where the laws, in their higher

aspects, were periodically administered. I had, therefore, every reason

to favor it.

_Skeptical Views of the Mosaical Chronology_.--Baptiste Irvine, Esq.,

in referring to some criticism of his in relation to the discovery of

fossils by a distinguished individual, brings this subject forward in a

letter of April 19th. This individual had written to him, impugning his

criticisms.

"I regret," he observes, "the cause, and shall endeavor to give

publicity to his (my friend's) observations; though hardly necessary to

him, they may yet awaken some ideas in the minds of the people on the

wonders of physics I had almost said the _slow miracles of creation_.

For if ever there was a time when matter existed not, it is pretty

evident that _millions of years_ were necessary to establish order on

chaos, instead of six days. Let Cuvier, &c., temporize as they may.

However, it is the humble allotment of the herd to believe or stare; it

is the glory of intelligent men to acquire and admire." "For the memoir

I am very thankful, and I perceive it alters the case."

_April 22d. Mount Vernon_.--In a pilgrimage to this spot, if political

veneration may assume that name, I was accompanied by Honorable Albert

H. Tracy, Mr. Ruggles, and Mr. Alfred Conkling of the House of

Representatives, all of New York. We took a carriage, and reached the

hallowed place in good season, and were politely admitted to all the

apartments and grounds, which give interest to every tread. I brought

some pebbles of common quartz and bits of brown oxide of iron, from the

top of the rude tomb, and we all broke branches of the cedars growing

there. We gazed into the tomb, through an aperture over the door, where

bricks had been removed, and thought, at last, that we could distinguish

the coffin.

_Human Feet figured on Rock at St. Louis_.--The Honorable Thomas H.

Benton, in a letter of 29th April, expresses the opinion that these are

antiquities, and not "prints," and that they are of the age of the

mounds on the American bottom.

_Mineralogy_.--J.D. Doty, Esq., transmits (May 6th) from the vicinity of

Martinsburg, New York, specimens of the geological structure of that

neighborhood.

_Austin's Colony_.--"What you have said to me heretofore, concerning

Mr. Austin's settlement in Texas, has rather turned my attention in that

direction. Have you any means of communicating with your friend? What

are your views of that country?"

CHAPTER IX.

Appointed an agent of Indian affairs for the United States at Saint

Mary's--Reasons for the acceptance of the office--Journey to

Detroit--Illness at that point--Arrival of a steamer with a battalion of

infantry to establish a new military post at the foot of Lake

Superior--Incidents of the voyage to that point--Reach our destination,

and reception by the residents and Indians--A European and man of honor

fled to the wilderness.

1822. At length Congress passed an act, which left Mr. Calhoun free to

carry out his intentions respecting me, by the creation of a separate

Indian agency for Florida. This enabled him to transfer one of the

western agencies, namely, at Vincennes, Indiana, where the Indian

business had ceased, to the foot of the basin of Lake Superior, at the

ancient French village of _Sault de Ste. Marie_, Michigan. Had not this

act passed, it would have been necessary to transfer this agency to

Florida, for which Mr. Gad Humphreys was the recognized appointee. Mr.

Monroe immediately sent in my nomination for this old agency to the

Senate, by whom it was favorably acted on the 8th of May. The gentleman

(Mr. J.B. Thomas, Senator from Illinois) whose boat I had been

instrumental in saving in my descent of the Ohio in the spring of 1818,

I believe, moved its confirmation. It was from him, at any rate, that I

the same day obtained the information of the Senate's action.

I had now attained a fixed position; not such as I desired in the

outset, and had striven for, but one that offered an interesting class

of duties, in the performance of which there was a wide field for

honorable exertion, and, if it was embraced, also of historical inquiry

and research. The taste for natural history might certainly be

transferred to that point, where the opportunity for discovery was the

greatest. At any rate, the trial of a residence on that remote frontier

might readily be made, and I may say it was in fact made only as a

temporary matter. It was an ancient agency in which General Harrison

had long exercised his superior authority over the fierce and wild

tribes of the West, which was an additional stimulus to exertion, after

its removal to Lake Superior.

I called the next day on Mr. Calhoun, to express my obligation, and to

request instructions. For the latter object, he referred me to General

Cass, of Detroit, who was the superintendent of Indian affairs on the

North-Western frontier, and to whom the policy of pushing an agency and

a military post to that point is, I believe, due.

I now turned my face to the North, made a brief stay in New York,

hurried through the western part of that State to Buffalo, and ascended

Lake Erie to Detroit. At this point I was attacked with fever and ague,

which I supposed to have been contracted during a temporary landing at

Sandusky. I directed my physician to treat it with renewed doses of

mercury, in quick succession, which terminated the fever, but completely

prostrated my strength, and induced, at first tic douloureux, and

eventually a paralysis of the left cheek.

The troops destined for the new post arrived about the beginning of

July. They consisted of a battalion of the 2d Regiment of Infantry,

under Colonel Brady, from garrison duty at Sackett's Harbor, and they

possessed every element of high discipline and the most efficient

action, under active officers. Brady was himself an officer of Wayne's

war against the Indians, and had looked danger steadily in the face on

the Niagara frontier, in the Late War. In this condition, I hastily

snatched up my instructions, and embarked on board the new steamer

"Superior," which was chartered by the government for the occasion. It

was now the 2d of July.

Before speaking of the voyage from this point, it may be well to refer

to another matter. The probability of Professor Douglass publishing the

joint results of our observations on the expedition of 1820, appeared

now unfavorable. Among the causes of this, I regarded my withdrawal to a

remote point as prominent but not decisive. Two years had already

elapsed; the professor was completely absorbed in his new professorship,

in which he was required to teach a new subject in a new language.

Governor Cass, who had undertaken the Indian subject, had greatly

enlarged the platform of his inquiries, which rendered it probable that

there would be a delay. My memoir on the geology and mineralogy only was

ready. Dr. Barnes had the conchology nearly ready, and the botany,

which was in the hands of Dr. Torrey, was well advanced. But it required

a degree of labor, zeal, and energy to push forward such a work, that

admits of no abatements, and which was sufficient to absorb all the

attention of the highest mind; and could not be expected from the

professor, already overtasked.

Among the papers which were put in my hands at Detroit, I found a

printed copy of Governor Cass's Indian queries, based on his promise to

Douglass, by which I was gratified to perceive that his mind was

earnestly engaged in the subject, which he sought a body of original

materials to illustrate. I determined to be a laborer in this new field.

Our voyage up Lake Huron to Michilimackinack, and thence east to the

entrance of the Straits of St. Mary's, at Detour, was one of pleasant

excitement. We ascended the straits and river, through Muddy Lake and

the narrow pass at Sailor's Encampment, to the foot of the great

Nibeesh [12] rapids. Here the steamer came to anchor from an apprehension

that the bar of Lake George [13] could not be crossed in the existing

state of the water.

[Footnote 12: This name signifies strong water, meaning bad for

navigation, from its strength. Here _Nebeesh_ is the derogative form of

_Nebee_, water.]

[Footnote 13: The depth of water on this bar was then stated to be but

six feet two inches.]

It was early in the morning of the 6th of July when this fact was

announced. Colonel Brady determined to proceed with his staff in the

ship's yawl, by the shorter passage of the boat channel, and invited me

to a seat. Captain Rogers, of the steamer, himself took the helm. After

a voyage of about four or five hours, we landed at St. Mary's at ten

o'clock in the morning. Men, women, children, and dogs had collected to

greet us at the old wharf opposite the Nolan House--the ancient

"chateau" of the North-West Company. And the Indians, whose costume lent

an air of the picturesque to the scene, saluted us with ball, firing

over our heads as we landed. The _Chemoquemon_ had indeed come! Thus the

American flag was carried to this point, and it was soon hoisted on a

tall staff in an open field east of Mr. Johnston's premises, where the

troops, as they came up, marched with inspiring music, and regularly

encamped. The roll of the drum was now the law for getting up and lying

down. It might be 168 or 170 years since the French first landed at

this point. It was just 59 since the British power had supervened, and

39 since the American right had been acknowledged by the sagacity of Dr.

Franklin's treaty of 1783. But to the Indian, who stood in a

contemplative and stoic attitude, wrapped in his fine blanket of

broadcloth, viewing the spectacle, it must have been equally striking,

and indicative that his reign in the North-West, that old hive of Indian

hostility, was done. And, had he been a man of letters, he might have

inscribed, with equal truth, as it was done for the ancient Persian

monarch, "MENE, MENE, TEKEL."

To most persons on board, our voyage up these wide straits, after

entering them at Point de Tour, had, in point of indefiniteness, been

something like searching after the locality of the north pole. We wound

about among groups of islands and through passages which looked so

perfectly in the state of nature that, but for a few ruinous stone

chimneys on St. Joseph's, it could not be told that the foot of man had

ever trod the shores. The whole voyage, from Buffalo and Detroit, had

indeed been a novel and fairy scene. We were now some 350 miles

north-west of the latter city. We had been a couple of days on board, in

the area of the sea-like Huron, before we entered the St. Mary's

straits. The Superior, being the second steamer built on the Lakes,[14]

had proved herself a staunch boat.

[Footnote 14: The first steamer built on the Lakes was called the

"Walk-in-the-Water," after an Indian chief of that name; it was launched

at Black Rock, Niagara River, in 1818, and visited Michilimackinack in

the summer of that year.]

The circumstances of this trip were peculiar, and the removal of a

detachment of the army to so remote a point in a time of profound peace,

had stimulated migratory enterprise. The measure was, in truth, one of

the results of the exploring expedition to the North-West in 1820, and

designed to curb and control the large Indian population on this extreme

frontier, and to give security to the expanding settlements south of

this point. It was in this light that Mr. Calhoun, the present

enlightened Secretary of War, viewed the matter, and it may be said to

constitute a part of his plan for throwing a _cordon_ of advanced posts

in front of the wide area of our western settlements. From expressions

heard on our route, the breaking up in part of the exceedingly

well-quartered garrison of Madison barracks at Sackett's Harbor, N.Y.,

was not particularly pleasing to the officers of this detachment, most

of whom were married gentlemen, having families, and all of whom were in

snug quarters at that point, surrounded as it is by a rich, thriving,

farming population, and commanding a good and cheap market of meats and

vegetables. To be ordered off suddenly a thousand miles or more, over

three of the great series of lakes, and pitched down here, on the verge

of the civilized world, at the foot of Lake Superior, amid Indians and

Indian traders, where butchers' meat is a thing only to be talked about,

and garden vegetables far more rare than "blackberries," was not,

certainly, an agreeable prospect for officers with wives and mothers

with babies. It might, I am inclined to think from what I heard, be

better justified on the grounds of _national_ than of _domestic_ policy.

They determined, however, on the best possible course under the

circumstances, and took their ladies and families along. This has given

an air of gayety and liveliness to the trip, and, united with the

calmness of the season, and the great novelty and beauty of the scenery,

rendered the passage a very agreeable one. The smoothness of the lakes,

the softness and purity of the air, the wild and picturesque character

of the scenes, and the perfect transparency of the waters, have been so

many themes of perpetual remark and admiration. The occasional

appearance of the feather-plumed Indian in his sylph-like canoe, or the

flapping of a covey of wild-fowl, frightened by the rushing sound of a

steamboat, with the quick pulsation of its paddle-strokes on the water,

but served to heighten the interest, and to cast a kind of fairy spell

over the prospect, particularly as, half shrouded in mist, we passed

among the green islands and brown rocks, fringed with fir trees, which

constituted a perfect panorama as we entered and ascended the Straits of

the St. Mary's.

We sat down to our Fourth-of-July dinner on board the Superior, a little

above the Thunder Bay Islands, in Lake Huron, and as we neared the once

sacred island of Michilimackinack, and saw its tall cliffs start up, as

it were by magic, from the clear bosom of the pellucid lake, a true

aboriginal, whose fancy had been well imbued with the poetic mythology

of his nation, might have supposed he was now, indeed, approaching his

fondly-cherished "Island of the Blest." Apart from its picturesque

loveliness, we found it, however, a very flesh and blood and

matter-of-fact sort of place, and having taken a pilot on board, who

knew the sinuosities of the Saint Mary's channel, we veered around, the

next day, and steered into the capes of that expanded and intricate

strait, where we finally anchored on the morning denoted, and where the

whole detachment was quickly put under orders to ascend the river the

remainder of the distance, about fifteen miles, in boats, each company

under its own officers, while the colonel pushed forward in the yawl. It

was settled, at the same time, that the ladies and their "little ones"

should remain on board, till matters had assumed some definite shape for

their reception.

We were received by the few residents favorably, as has been indicated.

Prominent among the number of residents who came to greet us was Mr.

John Johnston, a gentleman from the north of Ireland, of whose romantic

settlement and adventures here we had heard at Detroit. He gave us a

warm welcome, and freely offered every facility in his power to

contribute to the personal comfort of the officers and their families,

and the general objects of the government. Mr. J. is slightly lame,

walking with a cane. He is of the medium stature, with blue eyes, fair

complexion, hair which still bears traces of its original light brown,

and possesses manners and conversation so entirely easy and polite as to

impress us all very favorably.

Colonel Brady selected some large open fields, not susceptible of a

surprise, for his encampment. To this spot, as boat after boat came up,

in fine style, with its complement of men from the steamer, the several

companies marched down, and before nightfall, the entire command was

encamped in a square, with their tents handsomely pitched, and the whole

covered by lines of sentinels, and under the exact government of troops

in the field. The roll of the drum which had attracted but little

attention on the steamer, assumed a deeper tone, as it was re-echoed

from the adjoining woods, and now distinctly announced, from time to

time, the placing of sentinels, the hour for supper, and other offices

of a clock, in civil life. The French population evinced, by their

countenances and gestures, as they clustered round, a manifest

satisfaction at the movement; the groups of Indians had gazed in a sort

of silent wonder at the pageant; they seemed, by a certain air of

secrecy and suspicion, to think it boded some evil to their long

supremacy in the land. Night imperceptibly threw her dark mantle over

the scene; the gazers, group by group, went to their lodges, and finally

the sharp roll of the tattoo bid every one within the camp to his tent.

Captain Alexander R. Thompson, who had claimed the commandant as his

guest, invited me also to spend the night in his tent. We could plainly

hear the deep murmur of the falls, after we lay down to rest, and also

the monotonous thump of the distant Indian _wabeno_ drum. Yet at this

remote point, so far from the outer verge of civilization, we found in

Mr. Johnston a man of singular energy and independence of character,

from one of the most refined circles of Europe; who had pushed his way

here to the foot of Lake Superior about the year 1793; had engaged in

the fur trade, to repair the shattered fortunes of his house; had

married the daughter of the ruling Ogima or Forest King of the

Chippewas; had raised and educated a large family, and was then living,

in the only building in the place deserving the name of a comfortable

residence, with the manners and conversation of a perfect gentleman, the

sentiments of a man of honor, and the liberality of a lord. He had a

library of the best English works; spent most of his time in reading and

conducting the affairs of an extensive business; was a man of social

qualities, a practical philanthropist, a well-read historian, something

of a poet, and talked of Europe and its connections as things from which

he was probably forever separated, and looked back towards it only as

the land of reminiscences.

CHAPTER X.

Incidents of the summer during the establishment of the new post at St.

Mary's--Life in a nut-shell--Scarcity of room--High prices of

everything--State of the Indians--Their rich and picturesque

costume--Council and its incidents--Fort site selected and occupied--The

evil of ardent spirits amongst the Indians--Note from Governor

De Witt Clinton--Mountain ash--Curious superstitions of the

Odjibwas--Language--Manito poles--Copper--Superstitious regard for

Venus--Fine harbor in Lake Superior--Star family--A locality of

necromancers--Ancient Chippewa capital--Eating of animals.

_1822. July 7th_. We left our pallets at the sound of the reveille, and

partook of a rich cup of coffee, with cream, which smoked on the camp

breakfast-board of our kind entertainer, Captain Thompson.[15] The ladies

and children came up from the steamer, under due escorts, during the

day, and were variously accommodated with temporary quarters. Dr.

Wheaton and lady, Captain Brant, quartermaster, and myself, were

received eventually at the table of Mr. Johnston. Captain Brant and

myself hired a small room hard by for an office to be used between us.

This room was a small log tenement, which had been occupied by one of

Mr. J.'s hands. It was about twelve by fourteen feet, with a small

window in front and in rear, and a very rural fire-place in one corner.

It is astonishing how much comfort can be enjoyed in a crowded and

ill-fitted place on a pinch. We felicitated ourselves at even this. We

really felt that we were quite fortunate in getting such a locality to

hail from. Captain N.S. Clark got an adjoining tenement, of similar

construction and use, but much larger, for his numerous family. Some of

the ladies took shelter at the domicil of an intelligent American family

(Mr. E.B. Allen's) who had preceded us a short time with an adventure of

merchandise. One or two of the ladies abode temporarily in the tents of

their husbands. The unmarried officers looked for nothing better than

life in camp. I accepted an invitation at the mess-table of the

officers. Besides this sudden influx of population, there were followers

and hucksters of various hues who hoped to make their profits from the

soldiery. There was not a nook in the scraggy-looking little antique

village but what was sought for with avidity and thronged with

occupants. Whoever has seen a flock of hungry pigeons, in the spring,

alight on the leaf-covered ground, beneath a forest, and apply the busy

powers of claw and beak to obtain a share of the hidden acorns that may

be scratched up from beneath, may form some just notion of the pressing

hurry and bustle that marked life in this place. The enhanced price that

everything bore was one of the results of this sudden influx of

consumers and occupants.

[Footnote 15: This officer fell at the battle of Ochechubby, in Florida,

as colonel of the sixth infantry, gallantly leading his men to battle.]

_8th_. I went to rest last night with the heavy murmuring sound of the

falls in my ears, broken at short intervals by the busy

thump-thump-thump of the Indian drum; for it is to be added, to the

otherwise crowded state of the place, that the open grounds and

river-side greens of the village, which stretch along irregularly for a

mile or two, are filled with the lodges of visiting Indian bands from

the interior. The last month of spring and the early summer constitute,

in fact, a kind of carnival for the natives. It is at this season that

the traders, who have wintered in the interior, come out with their furs

to the frontier posts of St. Mary's, Drummond Island, and

Michilimackinack, to renew their stocks of goods. The Indians, who have

done hunting at this season, as the furred animals are now changing

their hair, and the pelt becomes bad, follow them to enjoy themselves

along the open shores of the lakes, and share in the good things that

may fall to their lot, either from the traders at their places of

outfit, from presents issued by the British or American governments at

their chief posts, or from merchants in the towns, to whom a few

concealed skins are still reserved to trade. An Indian's time appears

to be worth but little to him at this season, if at any season. He lives

most precariously on small things, such as he can pick up as he travels

loitering along the lake shores, or strolls, with easy footsteps, about

the forest precincts of his lodge. A single fish, or a bird or squirrel,

now and then, serves to mitigate, if it does not satisfy, hunger. He has

but little, I am told, at the best estate; but, to make amends for

this, he is satisfied and even happy with little. This is certainly a

philosophic way of taking life, but it is, if I do not mistake it, stoic

philosophy, and has been learned, by painful lessons of want, from early

youth and childhood. Where want is the common lot, the power of

endurance which the race have must be a common attainment.

_9th_. This day I hired an interpreter for the government, to attend at

the office daily, a burly-faced, large man of some five-and-forty, by

the name of Yarns. He tells me that he was born at Fort Niagara, of

Irish parentage, to which an originally fair skin, blue eyes, and sandy

hair, bear testimony. He has spent life, it seems, knocking about

trading posts, in the Indian country, being married, has _metif_

children, and speaks the Chippewa tongue fluently--I do not know how

accurately.

The day which has closed has been a busy day, having been signalized as

the date of my first public council with the Indians. It has ushered in

my first diplomatic effort. For this purpose, all the bands present were

invited to repair to camp, where Colonel Brady, at the appointed hour,

ordered his men under arms, in full dress. They were formed in a hollow

square in front of his marque. The American flag waved from a lofty

staff. The day was bright and fine, and everything was well arranged to

have the best effect upon the minds of the Indians. As the throng of

both resident and foreign bands approached, headed by their chiefs, they

were seated in the square. It was noticed that the chiefs were generally

tall and striking-looking persons, of dignified manners, and well and

even richly dressed. One of the chiefs of the home band, called Sassaba,

who was generally known by the sobriquet of the _Count,_ appeared in a

scarlet uniform, with epaulets and a sword. The other chiefs observed

their native costume, which is, with this tribe, a toga of blue

broadcloth, folded and held by one hand on the breast, over a

light-figured calico shirt, red cloth leggins and beaded moccasons, a

belt or baldric about the waist, sustaining a knife-sheath and pouch,

and a frontlet of skin or something of the sort, around the forehead,

environed generally with eagles' feathers.

When the whole were seated, the colonel informed them that I had been

sent by their great father the President to reside among them, that

respect was due me in that capacity, and that I would now address them.

I had directed a quantity of tobacco to be laid before them; and offered

them the pipe with the customary ceremonies. Being a novice in addresses

of this kind, I had sat down early in the morning, in my crowded log

hut, and written an address, couched in such a manner, and with such

allusions and appeals, as I supposed would be most appropriate. I was

not mistaken, if I could judge by the responses made at the close of

each sentence, as it was interpreted. The whole address was evidently

well received, and responded to in a friendly manner, by the ruling

chief, a tall, majestic, and graceful person named Shingabawossin, or

the Image Stone, and by all who spoke except the Count. He made use of

some intemperate, or ill-timed expressions, which were not interpreted,

but which brought out a strong rebuke from Mr. Johnston, who, being

familiar with the Indian language, gave vent in their tongue to his

quick and high-toned feelings of propriety on the occasion. Colonel

Brady then made some remarks to the chiefs, dictated by the position he

occupied as being about to take post, permanently, in their country. He

referred to the treaty of purchase made at these falls two years before

by Governor Cass. He told the Indians that he should not occupy their

ancient encamping and burial-ground on the hill, but would select the

next best site for his troops. This announcement was received with great

satisfaction, as denoted by a heavy response of approbation on the part

of the Indians; and the council closed to the apparent mutual

satisfaction of all. I augured well from all I heard respecting it, as

coming from the Indians, and was resolved to follow it up zealously, by

cultivating the best understanding with this powerful and hitherto

hostile tribe, namely the Chippewas, or, as they call themselves,

Od-jib-wä.[16] To this end, as well as for my amusement, I commenced a

vocabulary, and resolved to study their language, manners, customs, &c.

[Footnote 16: This word has its pluraling thus, Od-jib-wäig.]

_10th_. On examining the topography and advantages of the ground,

Colonel Brady determined to take possession of a lot enclosed and

dwelling, originally the property of the North West Company, and known

as the Nolin House, but now the property of Mr. C.O. Ermatinger.[17] To

this place the troops were marched, soon after the close of the Indian

council mentioned, and encamped within the area. This area was enclosed

with cedar pickets. The dwelling-house, which occupied an eminence some

eighth of a mile below the falls, was in old times regarded as a

princely château of the once powerful lords of the North West Fur Trade,

but is now in a decayed and ruinous state. It was nick-named "Hotel

Flanagan." Dilapidated as it was, there was a good deal of room under

its roof, and it afforded quarters for most of the officers' families,

who must otherwise have remained in open tents. The enclosure had also

one or two stone houses, which furnished accommodations to the

quartermaster's and subsistence and medical departments. Every nerve was

now directed to fit up the place, complete the enclosure, and furnish it

with gates; to build a temporary guard-house, and complete other

military fixtures of the new cantonment. The edifice also underwent such

repairs as served to fence out, as much as possible, the winds and snows

of a severe winter--a winter which every one dreads the approach of, and

the severity of which was perhaps magnified in proportion as it

was unknown.

[Footnote 17: For the property thus taken possession of, the United

States Government, through the Quartermaster's Department, paid the

claimant the just and full amount awarded by appraisers.]

_11th_. What my eyes have seen and my ears have heard, I must believe;

and what is their testimony respecting the condition of the Indian on

the frontiers? He is not, like Falstaff's men, "food for powder," but he

is food for whisky. Whisky is the great means of drawing from him his

furs and skins. To obtain it, he makes a beast of himself, and allows

his family to go hungry and half naked. And how feeble is the force of

law, where all are leagued in the golden bonds of interest to break it!

He is indeed

"Like some neglected shrub at random cast

That shades the steep and sighs at every blast."

_12th_. I received by to-day's mail a note from De Witt Clinton,

Governor of New York. America has produced few men who have united civic

and literary tastes and talents of a high order more fully than he does.

He early and ably investigated the history and antiquities of Western

New York. He views with a comprehensive judgment the great area of the

West, and knows that its fertility and resources must render it, at no

distant day, the home of future millions. He was among the earliest to

appreciate the mineralogical and geographical researches which I made in

that field. He renewed the interest, which, as a New Yorker, he felt in

my history and fortunes, after my return from the head of the

Mississippi in 1820. He opened his library and house to me freely; and I

have to notice his continued interest since my coming here. In the

letter which has just reached me, he encloses a favorable notice of my

recent _Narrative of the Expedition to the Sources of the Mississippi_,

from Sir Humphrey Davy. If there were nothing else, in such a notice

from such a source but the stimulus it gives to exertion, that alone is

worth to a man in my position "pearls and diamonds."

Colonel Brady, who is active in daily perambulating the woods, to make

himself acquainted with the environs, seeking, at the same time, the

best places of finding wood and timber, for the purposes of his command,

brought me a twig of the Sorbus Americana, a new species of tree to him,

in the American forest, of which he asked me the name. This tree is

found in occasional groups extensively in the region of the upper Lake

latitudes, where it is called the mountain ash. In the expedition to the

sources of the Mississippi in 1820, it was observed on the southern

shores of Lake Superior, which are on the average a little north of

latitude 36° 30'. This tree does not in these straits attain much size;

a trunk of six to eight inches diameter is large. Its leaves, flowers,

and fruit all tend to make it a very attractive species for shade and

ornament. It must have a rich soil, but, this requisite granted, it

delights in wet moist lands, and will thrive with its roots in

springy grounds.

_15th_. One of the curious superstitions of the Chippewas, respecting

the location of spiritual existences, revealed itself to-day. There is

quite an eminence nearly a mile back of the new cantonment, which is

called La Butte de Terre by the French, and Wudjuwong,[18] or Place of

the Mountain, by the natives. This eminence is covered with a fine

growth of forest trees, and lies in the track of an ancient Indian

hunting path. About half way between the brow of the hill and the

cantonment, there formerly stood a large tree of this species, partly

hollow, from the recesses of which, Indian tradition says, there

issued, on a calm day, a sound like the voice of a spirit or monedo. It

resembled the sounds of their own drum. It was therefore considered as

the residence of some powerful spirit, and deemed sacred. To mark their

regard for the place, they began to deposit at its foot bows and twigs

of the same species of tree, as they passed it, from year to year, to

and from their hunting-grounds. These offerings began long before the

French came to the country, and were continued up to this time. Some

years ago, the tree had become so much decayed that it blew down during

a storm, but young shoots came up from its roots, and the natives

continued to make these offerings of twigs, long after the original

trunk had wholly decayed. A few days ago, Colonel Brady directed a road

to be cut from the cantonment to the hill, sixty feet wide, in order to

procure wood from the hill for the garrison. This road passed over the

site of the sacred tree, and the men, without knowing it, removed the

consecrated pile of offerings. It may serve to show a curious

coincidence in the superstitions of nations, between whom, however,

there is not the slightest probability of national affiliation, or even

intercourse, to remark that this sacred manito tree was a very large

species of the Scottish rowan or mountain ash.

[Footnote 18: _Wudijoo_, a mountain--_ong_ denotes locality.]

_16th_. I this day left the mess-table of my kind friends, the officers

of the second infantry, and went to the hospitable domicil of Mr.

Johnston, who has the warm-hearted frankness of the Irish character, and

offers the civilities of life with the air and manner of a prince. I

flatter myself with the opportunity of profiting greatly while under his

roof, in the polished circle of his household, and in his ripe

experience and knowledge of the Indian character, manners, and customs,

and in the curious philosophical traits of the Indian language. It is

refreshing to find a person who, in reference to this language, knows

the difference between the conjugation of a verb and the declension of a

noun. There is a prospect, at least, of getting at the grammatical

principles, by which they conjoin and build up words. It has been

intolerable to me to converse with Indian traders and interpreters here,

who have, for half their lives, been using a language without being able

to identify with precision person, mood, tense, or any of the first laws

of grammatical utterance.

_17th_. It is customary with the Chippewas at this place, when an

inmate of the lodge is sick, to procure a thin sapling some twenty to

thirty feet long, from which, after it has been trimmed, the bark is

peeled. Native paints are then smeared over it as caprice dictates. To

the slender top are then tied bits of scarlet, blue cloth, beads, or

some other objects which are deemed acceptable to the manito or spirit,

who has, it is believed, sent sickness to the lodge as a mark of his

displeasure. The pole is then raised in front of the lodge and firmly

adjusted in the ground. The sight of these manito poles gives quite a

peculiar air to an Indian encampment. Not knowing, however, the value

attached to them, one of the officers, a few days after our arrival,

having occasion for tent poles, sent one of his men for one of these

poles of sacrifice; but its loss was soon observed by the Indians, who

promptly reclaimed it, and restored it to the exact position which it

occupied before. There is, in fact, such a subtle and universal belief

in the doctrine and agency of minor spirits of malign or benignant

influence among the Indians who surround the cantonment, or visit the

agency, and who are encamped at this season in great numbers in the open

spaces of the village or its vicinity, that we are in constant danger of

trespassing against some Indian custom, and of giving offence where it

was least intended. It is said that one cause of the preference which

the Indians have ever manifested for the French, is the respect which

they are accustomed to pay to all their religious or superstitious

observances, whereas an Englishman or an American is apt, either to take

no pains to conceal his disgust for their superstitions, or to speak out

bluntly against them.

_18th. Sulphuret of Copper_.--I received a specimen of this mineral,

which is represented to have been obtained on the Island of Saint

Joseph's, in these straits (Saint Mary's). It has the usual brass yellow

color of the sulphurets of this metal, and furnishes a hint for seeking

that hitherto undiscovered, but valuable species of the ore in this

vicinity. Hitherto, we have found the metal chiefly in the native form,

or in the condition of a carbonate, the first being a form of it which

has not in Europe been found in large quantities, and the second not

containing a sufficient per centage to repay well the cost of smelting.

_20th. Superstitious regard for Woman_.--Some of the rites and notions

of these northern barbarians are curious. The following custom is stated

to me to have been formerly prevalent among the Chippewas: After their

corn-planting, a labor which falls to the share of the women, and as

soon as the young blades began to shoot up from the hills, it was

customary for the female head of the family to perform a circuit around

the field in a state of nudity. For this purpose, she chose a dark

evening, and after divesting herself of her machecota, held it in her

hands dragging it behind her as she ran, and in this way compassed the

field. This singular rite was believed to protect the corn from blight

and the ravages of worms and vermin, and to insure a good crop. It was

believed that neither worms nor vermin could cross the mystic or

enchanted ring made by the nocturnal footsteps of the wife, nor any

mildew or canker affect the growing stalks and ears.

_21st. Grand Island, in Lake Superior_, lies transversely in the lake,

just beyond the termination of the precipitous coast of the Pictured

Rocks. Its southern end is crescent-shaped, and forms a singularly fine

harbor for vessels, which will one day be appreciated. The Indian band

occupying it was formerly numerous. There are many stories still current

of their former prowess and traits of hospitality and generosity, and of

the skill of their old seers, and divining-men, _i.e. Jossakeeds_. Its

present Indian population is reduced to forty-six souls, of whom ten are

men, sixteen women, and twenty children. Of the men, nine are married,

one of whom has two wives, and there are two widows.

Of this band the Star family, so called, have long possessed the

chieftainship, and are remarkable on several accounts. There are eleven

children of them now living, five of whom are males, all by one mother,

who is still living. Sabboo is the principal man. The South Bird, his

elder, and the ruling chief, has removed to Bay de Nocquet. At this

island, story says, formerly lived the noted warrior and meta, Sagima;

and it was also, according to Indian mythology, the residence of

Mishosha, who owned a magic canoe, that would shoot through the water by

uttering a charmed word.

_22d_. I have heard much of the ancient Chippewa capital of La Pointe,

as the French call it, or Chegoimegon, in Lake Superior, situated near

its west end, or head. The Chippewas and their friends, the old traders

and _Boisbrules_, and Canadians, are never tired of telling of it. All

their great men of old times are located there. It was there that their

Mudjekewis, king or chief ruler, lived, and, as some relate, that an

eternal fire was kept up with a sort of rude temple service. At that

place lived, in comparatively modern times, Wabojeeg and Andaigweos, and

there still lives one of their descendants in Gitchee Waishkee, the

Great First-born, or, as he is familiarly called, Pezhickee, or the

Buffalo, a chief decorated with British insignia. His band is estimated

at one hundred and eighteen souls, of whom thirty-four are adult males,

forty-one females, and forty-three children. Mizi, the Catfish, one of

the heads of families of this band, who has figured about here this

summer, is not a chief, but a speaker, which gives him some _éclat_. He

is a sort of petty trader too, being credited with little adventures of

goods by a dealer on the opposite, or British shores.

_23d_. There are few animals which the Indians reject as food. On this

subject they literally fulfil the declaration of Paul, "that every

creature of God is good, and nothing to be refused;" but I fear the poor

creatures, in these straits, do anything but show the true spirit of

thanksgiving in which the admonition is given. There is nothing

apparently in the assertion respecting Indians distinguishing between

clean and unclean beasts; I have heard, however, that crows and vultures

are not eaten, but, when they are pushed by hunger, whatever can sustain

life is taken.

The truth is, the calls of hunger are often so pressing to these

northern Indians, that anything in the shape of animal fibre, that will

keep soul and body together, is eaten in times of their greatest want. A

striking instance of this kind has just occurred, in the case of a horse

killed in the public service. The animal had, to use the teamster's

phrase, been snagged, and was obliged to be shot. To prevent unpleasant

effects in hot summer weather, the carcass was buried in the sand; but

as soon as the numerous bands of Indians, who are encamped here, learned

the fact, they dug up the animal, which was, however, nowise diseased,

and took it to their camp for food.

CHAPTER XI.

Murder of Soan-ga-ge-zhick, a Chippewa, at the head of the falls--Indian

mode of interment--Indian prophetess--Topic of interpreters and

interpretation--Mode of studying the Indian language--The Johnston

family--Visits--Katewabeda, chief of Sandy Lake--Indian mythology, and

oral tales and legends--Literary opinion--Political opinion--Visit of

the chief Little Pine--Visit of Wabishkepenais--A despairing

Indian--Geography.

1822. _July 26th_. A tragic occurrence took place last night, at the

head of the portage, resulting in the death of a Chippewa, which is

believed to be wholly attributable to the use of ardent spirits in the

Indian camps. As soon as I heard the facts, and not knowing to what

lengths the spirit of retaliation might go, I requested of Colonel Brady

a few men, with a non-commissioned officer, and proceeded, taking my

interpreter along, to the spot. The portage road winds along about

three-fourths of a mile, near the rapids, and all the way, within the

full sound of the roaring water, when it opens on a green, which is the

ancient camping ground, at the head of the falls. A footpath leads still

higher, by clumps of bushes and copsewood, to the borders of a shallow

bay, where in a small opening I somewhat abruptly came to the body of

the murdered man. He was a Chippewa from the interior called

Soan-ga-ge-zhick, or the Strong Sky. He had been laid out, by his

relatives, and dressed in his best apparel, with a kind of cap of blue

cloth and a fillet round his head. His lodge, occupied by his widow and

three small children, stood near. On examination, he had been stabbed in

several places, deeply in both thighs. These wounds might not have

proved fatal; but there was a subsequent blow, with a small tomahawk,

upon his forehead, above the left eye. He was entirely dead, and had

been found so, on searching for him at night, by his wife. It appeared

that he had been drinking during the evening and night, with an Indian

half-breed of the Chippewa River, of the name of Gaulthier. This fellow,

finding he had killed him, had taken his canoe and fled. Both had been

intoxicated. I directed the body to be interred, at the public charge,

on the ancient burial hill of the Chippewas, near the cantonment. The

usual shroud, on such occasions, is a new blanket; a grave was dug, and

the body very carefully dressed, laid in the coffin, beside the grave.

Before the lid was fastened, an aged Indian came forward, and pronounced

a funeral oration. He recited the traits of his character. He addressed

the dead man direct. He told him that he had reached the end of his

journey first, that they should all follow him soon to the land of the

dead, and again meet. He gave him directions for his journey. He offered

a brief admonition of dangers. He bid him adieu. The brother of the

deceased then stept forward, and, having removed the head-dress of the

slain man, pulled out some locks of hair as a memento. The head-dress

was then carefully replaced, the lid of the coffin fastened, and the

corpse let down into the ground. Two stout poles were then laid over the

open grave. The brother approached the widow and stood still. The orator

then addressed a few words to both, telling the survivor to perform a

brother's part by the widow. He then took her by the hand, and led her

carefully across the open grave, over the two poles. This closed the

ceremony, and the grave was then filled, and the crowd of white and red

men dispersed. At night a small flickering fire was built by the Indian

relatives of the murdered man, at the head of the grave.

_27th_. Making inquiries respecting the family of Soan-ga-ge-zhick, in

order to direct some provisions to be issued to them, I learned that the

widow is a prophetess among her people, or in other words a female

Jossakeed, and is supposed to have much influence in this way. This

denotes that the prophetic office is not, as has been supposed, confined

to males. I cannot better indicate the meaning of the word Jossakeed

than to say that it is a person who makes oracular responses from a

close lodge of peculiar construction, where the inmate is supposed to be

surrounded by superhuman influences, which impart the power of looking

into futurity. It is, manifestly, the ancient office of a seer, and

after making interrogatories about it, from persons supposed to be best

acquainted with the manners and customs of the people, the existence of

such an order of persons among them offers a curious coincidence with

one of the earliest superstitions of mankind. I further learn that

there is nothing hereditary in the descent of such priestly functions;

that any one, who acquires a character for sanctity or skill therein

among the bands, may assume the duties, and will secure a rank and

respect in proportion to his supposed skill therein. Having spoken of

descent, it is added, by my informants, that the widow of Strong Sky, is

a granddaughter of the noted war-chief Wabodjeeg,[19] of Chegoimegon,

Lake Superior, who, some half a century ago, had obtained a high

reputation with his people for his military skill and bravery, in the

war against the Ottogamies and Sioux. They talk of him as having been a

sort of Rajah, who could at any time get men to follow him.

[Footnote 19: White Fisher. The fisher is a small furred animal

resembling the mustela.]

_28th_. I have had an interview to-day with Ka-ba-konse (Little Hawk),

brother of the murdered Strong Sky.

It does not seem possible to obtain much information respecting their

secret beliefs and superstitions direct from the Indians. The attempts I

have made thus far have, at least, been unsuccessful, partly, perhaps,

because the topic was not properly apprehended by them, or by my

ordinary office interpreter, who, I find, is soon run a-muck by anything

but the plainest and most ordinary line of inquiry. A man of the Indian

frontiers, who has lived all his life to eat and drink, to buy and sell,

and has grown old in this devotion to the means necessary to secure the

material necessaries of life is not easily roused up to intellectual

ardor. I find this to be the case with my present interpreter, and he

is, perhaps, not inferior to the general run of paid interpreters. But

as I find, in my intercourse, the growing difficulties of verbal

communication with the Indians on topics at all out of the ordinary

routine of business, I begin to feel less surprised at the numerous

misapprehensions of the actual character, manners, and customs of the

Indians, which are found in books. I speak as to the communication

of exact ideas of their beliefs. As to literal exactitude in

such communications, my inquiries have already convinced me

that there must be other and higher standards than a hap-hazard

_I-au-ne-kun-o-tau-gade_, or trade interpreter, before the thing can be

attempted. Fortunately, I have, in my kind and polite friend Mr.

Johnston, who has given me temporary quarters at his house, and the

several intelligent members of his family, the means of looking deeper

into the powers and structure of the language, and am pressing these

advantages, amidst the pauses of business, with all my ardor and

assiduity.

The study of the language, and the formation of a vocabulary and grammar

have almost imperceptibly become an absorbing object, although I have

been but a short time at the place, and the plan interests me so much,

that I actually regret the time that is lost from it, in the ordinary

visits of comity and ceremony, which are, however, necessary. My method

is to interrogate all persons visiting the office, white and red, who

promise to be useful subjects of information during the day, and to test

my inquiries in the evening by reference to the Johnstons, who, being

educated, and speaking at once both the English and Odjibwa correctly,

offer a higher and more reliable standard than usual.

Mr. Johnston's family consists of ten persons, though all are not

constantly present. He is himself a native of the county of Antrim, in

the north of Ireland, his father having possessed an estate at Craige,

near the Giant's Causeway. He came to America in the last presidential

term of General Washington, having a brother at that time settled at

Albany, and after visiting Montreal and Quebec, he fell into company

with the sort of half-baronial class of north-west fur traders, who

struck his fancy. By their advice, he went to Michilimackinack and Lake

Superior, where he became attached to, and subsequently married the

younger daughter of Wabojeeg, a northern Powhatan, who has been before

mentioned. There are four sons and four daughters, to the education of

all of whom he has paid the utmost attention. His eldest son was first

placed in the English navy, and is now a lieutenant in the land service,

having been badly wounded and cut in the memorable battle with Commodore

Perry on Lake Eric, in 1813. The next eldest is engaged in commerce. The

eldest daughter was educated in Ireland, and the two next at Sandwich,

near Detroit. These constituted the adults; there are two sons and a

daughter, still in their school-days. All possess agreeable, easy

manners and refinement. Mrs. Johnston is a woman of excellent judgment

and good sense; she is referred to on abstruse points of the Indian

ceremonies and usages, so that I have in fact stumbled, as it were, on

the only family in North West America who could, in Indian lore, have

acted as my "guide, philosopher and friend."

_30th_. I received yesterday a second visit from Ka-ta-wa-be-da, or the

Broken Tooth chief of Sandy Lake, on the Upper Mississippi, who is

generally known by his French name of Breshieu, and at the close of the

interview gave him a requisition on the commissary for some provisions

to enable him to return to his home. The Indians must be led by a very

plain path and a friendly hand. Feeling and preference are subsequent

manifestations. I took this occasion to state to him the objects and

policy of the government by the establishment at these falls of a post

and agency, placing it upon its true basis, namely, the preservation of

peace upon the frontiers, and the due observance, by all parties, of the

laws respecting trade and intercourse with the tribes, and securing

justice both to them and to our citizens, particularly by the act for

the exclusion of ardent spirits from the Indian country. By the agency,

a door was opened through which they could communicate their wishes to

the President, and he was also enabled to state his mind to them. All

who opened their ears truly to the voice of their American father would

be included among the recipients of his favors. He felt kindly to all,

but those only who hearkened to his council would be allowed, as _he_

had been, to share in the usual privileges which the agency at this

place secured to them. Having drawn his provisions, and duly reflected

on what was said by me, he returned to-day to bid me adieu, on his

setting out to go home, and to express his thanks for my kindness and

advice. The old chief, who has long exercised his sway in the region of

Sandy Lake, made a well-considered speech in reply to mine of yesterday,

in which he took the ground of neutrality as between the United States

and Great Britain, and averred that he had ever been the friend of the

white race and of traders who came into the country, and declared

himself the friend of peace.