_15th_. I was anxious now to extend the sphere of my observation to

Europe. I had been engaged twelve consecutive years out of a period of

fifteen (omitting 1823, 1828, 1829 and 1830) in journeys chiefly in the

great Valley of the Mississippi, the vast flanks of the Rocky Mountains,

the Upper Lakes, and the north-western frontiers. And I began to sigh for

a prospect of older countries and institutions. The time seemed

favorable, in my mind, for such a movement, and I wrote to a friend high

in influence at Washington, on the subject. In a reply of this date, he

throws, with adroitness, cold water on the subject. He weighs matters in

scales which will only keep their equipoise at the place of the seat of

government; and, if I may say so, require their equipoise to be kept up

by casting on the golden weights of political expediency. Like those

seemingly mysterious charms which produce the variations in the

compass, the effects are always instantly visible, we see the dip and

intensity of the needle, while the causes are in great measure out

of sight.

A correspondent at Washington writes--"The President" talks of a tour to

the East. He will probably leave here about the last of May. He will go

to Portland, then through New Hampshire and Vermont to Lake Champlain,

and thence through the western part of New York to Buffalo. This was

originally the programme of Gen. Jackson's tour to New England in 1833.

_16th_. Charles Cleland, Esq., of Detroit, writes: "My partner, Franklin

Sawyer, Jr., has, for some months past, been collecting materials to

enable him to publish a history of Detroit, and he has this moment

requested me to solicit your friendly aid. You might have in your

possession many interesting facts, and much information which might give

great value to the work."

The true history of Detroit lies scattered abroad in the public archives

of Paris and London, and in the Catholic College of Quebec. It is

inseparable in a measure, not only from the history of Michigan, but

New France.

_17th_. George L. Whitney, of Detroit, writes me respecting the printing

of the narrative of my expedition to Itasca Lake.

_19th_. Rev. John Clark writes from New York, that the Methodist Society

have determined to establish a mission among the Chippewas at Sault St.

Marie--that he is pleased to hear the "native speakers" (Sunday, Cabeach

and Tanchay) have wintered in the county, and that he expects to reach

St. Mary's by the 10th of June.

_20th_. Dr. D. Houghton transmits from Detroit, a map necessary to

illustrate my narrative of the expedition to Itasca Lake.

_May 9th_. Wm. Cooper, of New York, undertakes to describe the

collection of fresh-water shells made on the recent expedition. "You are

not, perhaps, aware," he adds, "that Dr. Torrey is gone to Europe. He

sailed rather unexpectedly in February, and will be absent until next

October. I hope this will not be too great a delay for you, as it would

be difficult to find another botanist equally capable of describing

your plants.

"Dr. Dekay is in New York at present, and I have no doubt will

contribute his assistance in the examination of your collection."

Major H. Whiting remarks: "The lake here is about two feet lower than

it was at this time the last year. How is the level with you? I have the

cause fixed on record this time. _Mem_.--Not much snow during the

winter, and a dry, a very dry spring--only one brief rain during the

months of March and April. We must watch over these things and fix data,

which will show that the theorizing of the past, has sprung mostly from

the barrenness of observation.

"Emigration is settling again this way, as if the East were in love with

the West. I am not surprised at it. An admirer of the picturesque might

like the hills of the former, but a farmer would prefer to see them lie

down on one of our prairies--such as Prairie Rond. I found out all their

fascination when lately on a visit to the St. Joseph's country."

_20th_. I had now performed my last labor at St. Mary's--which was the

preparation of my narrative of the expedition to Itasca Lake. I looked,

in parting, with fond regret at the trees I had planted, the house I had

built, the walks I had constructed, the garden I had cultivated, the

meadow lands I had reclaimed from the tangled forest, and the wide and

noble prospects which surrounded Elmwood. All was to be left--and I only

waited for a suitable vessel to embark, bag and baggage, for the sacred

island whose formal polysyllables had formed the dread of my spelling

days at school--Michilimackinack.

CHAPTER XLVII.

Earliest point of French occupancy in the area of the Upper

Lakes--Removal of my residence from the Sault St. Marie to the island of

Michilimackinack--Trip to New York--Its objects--American Philosophical

Society--Michilimackinack; its etymology--The rage for investment in

western lands begins--Traditions of Saganosh--Of Porlier--Of

Perrault--Of Captain Thorn--Of the chief, Old Wing--Of Mudjekewis, of

Thunder Bay--Character of Indian tradition respecting the massacre at

old Fort Mackinack in 1763.

1833. _June 1st_. The cascades, or rapids of _Sault de Ste. Marie_,

which occur at the point of the sinking of the water level between Lakes

Superior and Huron, were, it seems, first visited, under the French

government, by Charles Raumbault, in 1641. It appears to have been one

of the earliest points occupied. In 1668, Claude D'Ablon and James

Marquette established there the mission of St. Mary--since which, the

place and the rapids have borne that name.

I had been a member of the first exploring expedition which the U.S.

Government sent into that region in 1820. Troops landed here to occupy

it in 1822, on which occasion I was entrusted by the President, with the

management of Indian affairs. I had now lived almost eleven years at

this ancient and remote point of settlement, which is at the foot of the

geological basin of Lake Superior--a period which, aside from official

duties, was, in truth, devoted to the study of the history, customs, and

languages of the Indians. These years are consecrated in my memory as a

period of intellectual enjoyment, and of profound and pleasing seclusion

from the world. It was not without deep regret that I quitted long

cherished scenes, abounding in the wild magnificence of nature, and went

back one step into the area of the noisy world, for it was impressed on

my mind, that I should never find a theatre of equal repose, and one so

well adapted to my simple and domestic tastes and habits. For I left

here in the precincts of Elmwood, a beautiful seat, which I had adorned

with trees of my own planting, which abounded in every convenience and

comfort, and commanded one of the most magnificent prospects in

the world.

The change seemed, however, to flow naturally from the development of

events. The decision once made, I only waited the entrance into the

straits of a first class schooner, which could be chartered to take my

collections in natural history, books, and furniture--all which were

embarked, with my family, on board the schooner "Mariner" the last week

in May. Captain Fowle (who met a melancholy fate many years afterwards,

while a Lieutenant-Colonel on board the steamer "Moselle" on the Ohio)

had been relieved, as commanding officer of the post, at the same time,

and embarked on board the same vessel with his family. We had a pleasant

passage out of the river and up the lake, until reaching the harbor of

Mackinack, which we entered early on the morning of the 27th of May.

Coming in with an easterly wind, which blows directly into it, the

vessel pitched badly at anchor, causing sea-sickness, and the rain

falling at the same time. As soon as it could be done, I took Mrs. S.

and the children and servants in the ship's yawl, and we soon stood on

terra firma, and found ourselves at ease in the rural and picturesque

grounds and domicil of the U.S. Agency, overhung, as it is, by

impending cliffs, and commanding one of the most pleasing and

captivating views of lake scenery. Here the great whirl of lake commerce

from Buffalo to Chicago, continually passed. The picturesque canoe of

the Indian was constantly gliding, and the footsteps of visitors were

frequently seen to tread in haste the "sacred island," rendering it a

point of continual contact with the busy world. Emigrants of every

class, agog for new El Dorados in the West, eager merchants prudently

looking to their interests in the great area of migration, domestic and

foreign visitors, with note-book in hand, and some valetudinarians,

hoping in the benefits of a pure air and "white fish"--these constantly

filled the harbor, and constituted the ever-moving panorama of our

enlarged landscape.

The necessary repairs to the buildings were not yet completed, when I

embarked about the 10th of June for New York, in order to fall in with

the President's cortege to the East. About seven weeks were devoted to

this excursion, during which I made an arrangement with the Harpers to

publish my narrative of the expedition to Itasca Lake, the printing to

be done at Detroit.

_July 19th_. The American Philosophical Society at Philadelphia informs

me of my election as a member.

_28th_. I returned to Michilimackinack from my excursion to New York,

and began to inquire of aged persons, white and red, as they visited the

office, into the local traditions of the place.

There is a hiatus in the history of the island, extending from 1763, the

date of the massacre of the British garrison on the mainland, to about

1780, the probable date of the removal of the post from the apex of the

peninsula (Peekwutinong of the Indians) to the island.

The name of the place is pronounced Mish-i-nim-auk-in-ong, by the

Indians, The term _mishi_, as heard in _mishipishiu_, panther, and

_mishigenabik_, a gigantic serpent of fabled notoriety, signifies

_great; nim_, appears to be derived from _nimi_, to dance, and _auk_

from _autig_, tree or standing object; _ong_ is the common termination

for locality, the vowels _i_ (second and fifth syllable) being brought

into the compound word as connectives. In a language which separates all

matter, the whole creation, in fact, into two classes of nouns--deemed

animates and inanimates--the distinctions of gender are lost, so far as

the laws of syntax are involved. It is necessary only to speak of

objects as possessing and wanting vitality, to communicate to them the

property named, whether it in reality possesses it in nature or not. For

this purpose words which lack it in their penultimate syllables, take

the consonant _n_ to make their plurals for inanimates, and _g_ for

animates. By this simple method, the whole inanimate creation--woods,

trees, rocks, clouds, waters, &c.--is clothed at will with life, or the

opposite class of objects are shorn of it, which enables the speaker,

whose mind is imbued with his peculiar mythology and necromancy, to

create a spiritual world around him. In this creation it is known to all

who have investigated the subject, that the Indian mind has exercised

its ingenuity, by creating classes and species of spirits, of all

imaginable kinds, which, to his fancied eye, fill all surrounding space.

If he be skilled in the magic rites of the sacred meda, or jesukewin, it

is but to call on these spirits, and his necromantic behest is at its

highest point of energy.

In reference to this spiritual creation, the word _mish_ signifies

great, or rather big, but as adjectives are, like substantives,

transitive, the term requires a transitive objective sign, to mark the

thing or person that is big, hence the term _michi_ signifies big

spirit, or "fairy"--for it is a kind of _pukwudjininne_, and not of

_monetoes_ that are described. The terms _nim_ and _auk_, dance and

tree, and the local _ong_, are introduced to describe the particular

locality and circumstances of the mythologic dances. The true meaning of

the phrase, therefore, appears to be, Place of the Dancing Spirits. The

popular etymology that derives the word from Big Turtle, is still

farther back in the chain of etymology, and is founded on the fact that

the _michi_ are turtle spirits. This is the result of my inquiries with

the best interpreters of the language. The French, to whom we owe the

original orthography, used _ch_ for _sh_, interchanged _n_ for _l_ in

the third syllable, and modified the syllables _auk_ and _ong_ into the

sounds of _ack_--which are, I believe, general rules founded on the

organs of utterance, in their adoption by that nation of Indian words.

Hence Michilimackinack. The word has, in Indian, a plural inflective in

_oag_, which the French threw away. The Iroquois, who extended their

incursions here, called it Ti-e-don-de-ro-ga.

_Aug. 1st_. While at Detroit (July 24th) Mr. Arthur Bronson, the money

capitalist, and Mr. Charles Butler, from New York, came to that place

with a large sum for investment in lands. This appeared to be the first

unmistakeable sign in this quarter, of that rage for investment in

western lands, which the country experienced for several years, and

which, acting universally, produced in 1836 a surplus revenue to the U.

S. treasury of fifty millions of dollars.

_15th_. Saganosh, an Ottawa chief of St. Martin's Island, visited the

office with eleven followers. I asked him if any of the relatives of

Gitche Naigow, of whom tradition spoke, yet lived. He pointed to his

wife, and said she was a daughter of Gitche Naigow. I asked her her age.

She did not know (probably fifty-five to sixty). She said her father

died and was buried at the Manistee River (North), that he was very old,

and died of old age--probably ninety. She said he was so old and feeble,

that the last spring before his death, when they came out from their

sugar camp to the open lake shore, she carried him on her back.

He had not, she said, been at the massacre of old Mackinack (described

by Henry), being then at _L'Arbre Croche_, but he came to the spot soon

afterwards. She had heard him speak of it. Says she was a little girl

when the British, in removing the post from the main land, first brought

over their cattle, and began to take possession of the present island of

Mackinack.

The old fort on the peninsula was called _Bik-wut-in-ong_ by the

Indians, but the island always had the name of _Mish-in-e-mauk-in-ong_.

Her father used to encamp where the village of Mackinack is now built.

Her name is _Na-do-wa-kwa_, Iroquois woman. Thus far the wife of

Saganosh. The man added that he lived on the island of Boisblanc, where

he had a garden, when the English vessel arrived to take possession of

Mackinack. He then went to the largest of the St. Martin's islands,

where he has continued to reside to this day, with intervals of absence.

He does not know his age, he may be seventy. Neither of them recollect

to have heard of "Wawetum," or "Menehwehwa," mentioned by

Alexander Henry.[65]

[Footnote 65: Henry's Travels.]

_16th_. Mr. Porlier, of Green Bay, remarks that he is now in the

sixty-ninth year of his age. Fifty years ago, he says, he first came to

Michilimackinack, and the post had then been removed from the main land

about three years. This would place the date of the removal about 1780.

On turning to the MSS. of John Baptiste Perrault, in my possession, he

says that he arrived at Mackinack on the 28th of June, 1783. That the

merchants had not then completed all their buildings consequent on the

removal. That the removal had taken place recently under Gov. Sinclair,

a commanding officer, so called by the French, who had been relieved the

preceding year by Captain Robinson. And that the 15th of July was kept

as the anniversary of the removal. It is probable, therefore, that the

post had been transferred in 1780 or '81.

The transfer from old to new Mackinack seems to have been gradual with

the inhabitants. Among the reasons for it, I was told, was the fear of

disturbance from the American war. The main reason doubtless was the

superiority of the island as a strong military position against

Indian attacks.

Captain Thorn told me that he had sailed to old Mackinack _seven_ years

_after_ the massacre. The inhabitants did not go all at once. They

dismantled their houses, and took away the windows, doors, &c.

_Aug. 19th_. Ningwegon (or the Wing) visited, with his band, consisting

(by the bundles of sticks) of ten men, twelve women, and six children.

Asked him where he was when the British took possession of this island

in 1812. He said at Detroit; that he had gone there previous to the

taking of the fort by the party from St. Joseph's; that he remained at

Detroit during the war; formed an acquaintance with Gov. Cass, who was

then commanding officer at that post, and had promised that his services

should be remembered.[66]

[Footnote 66: This chief received an annuity under the treaty of 28th

March, 1836.]

He said his father was a native of Detroit, having lived a little above

the present site of the city. He was an Ottawa. He emigrated, with his

father and grandmother, to Waganukizzi (_L'Arbre Croche_), when young,

and he had since lived there. His father died, not many years since, a

very old man, at Maskigon River. He is himself seventy-six years of age,

and gray headed--the little hair he has (his head being shaved after the

Indian fashion). His eyesight fails in relation to near objects, but is

good in viewing distant ones. He bears his age well, looks firm, and is

erect of body, face full, and voice unimpaired. He is a man above six

feet in height, and well proportioned.

In speaking of the Seneca nation, he called them _As-sig-un-aigs,_ a

term by which they are distinguished from the general Algonquin term of

Na-do-wa, or Iroquis.

Of the establishment of the present military post of Mackinack, he said

that, when young, he had come over from the main with his father, along

with the party of British officers who came to reconnoitre the place for

the purpose of establishing a post on it. The party dined under the

trees (pointing to some large sugar-maples then standing in the military

garden, under the cliffs). The British officer, who had led the party,

then asked the Indians' consent to occupy it. This was not immediately

given; they took time to consider, and the removal of the fort was

next year.

Presented him a nest of kettles (twelve), two pieces of factory cloth,

two guns, five pounds of net-thread, and two hoes, together with a

requisition for provisions.

_24th_. Mud-je-ke-wiss, chief of Thunder Bay, a descendant of the captor

of old Mackinack, being questioned of his family, their former

residence, his knowledge and remembrance of affairs at old Mackinack,

replied that his father's name was Mud-je-ke-wiss; it had been

Kaigwiaidosa when he had been a young man. He had lived at Mackinack,

going to Thunder Bay to hunt. He died, not very old, at a treaty held on

the Maumee. He (himself) had heard of the taking of old Mackinack, but

was born after the removal of the post to the island, and his father

died before he had instructed him. He had not heard of Wawitum, or

Menehwehwa, of whom I questioned him.

This answer is a specimen of Indian caution and suspicion of white men.

I knew but little of the man then, and had seen him but once or twice.

He evidently "played shy," and was determined the Anglo-Saxon race

should get no facts from him that might ever be told to the disadvantage

of the Indians who had once, under the lead of a noted chief (Pontiac),

been led, under the deception of a ball-play, to fall on the unprepared

ranks of a British garrison, and stain their history with a horrible

tale of blood. Henry's travels preserve the most vivid account of this

massacre, for he was himself an eye witness of some of its atrocities,

and was spared, by a remarkable Providence, from being one of

its victims.

It was not credible that seventy years should have left so little of

Indian tradition of that sanguinary event.

It is reported that letters written by Longlade, Indian interpreter at

old Mackinack, at and during the era of the massacre of the English

garrison, are in the possession of the Greenough family, at Green Bay.

They would, perhaps, throw some light on a transaction which is by far

the most tragic event of this _transition_ period of our Indian history.

By transition, I mean the era of the change from French to English

supremacy.

CHAPTER XLVIII.

Anniversary of the Algic Society--Traditions of Chusco and Mukudapenais

respecting Gen. Wayne's treaty--Saliferous column in American

geology--Fact in lake commerce--Traditions of Mrs. Dousman and Mr.

Abbott respecting the first occupation of the Island of

Michilimackinack--Question of the substantive verb in the Chippewa

language--Meteoric phenomena during the month of December--Historical

fact--Minor incidents.

1833. _Oct. 12th_. Business called me to Detroit, where I had a work in

the press, early in October. The Algic Society held its first

anniversary this day, in the Session Room of the Presbyterian Church.

The Secretary read a report of its proceedings, and submitted a body of

the vital statistics of the tribes of the Upper Lakes, which elicited an

animated discussion. Mr. Lathrop called attention to the singular fact,

that of the mothers reported in the tables, the rate of reproduction in

the hunter tribes did not exceed an average of over two children per

female. Mr. Sheldon thought the causes of their depopulation, since we

have been their neighbors, were rather seated in their extraordinary

attachment to the use of ardent spirits, than in the effects of wars,

internal or external. Mr. Clark believed the Indian youth were capable

of being brought under the power of moral and religious instruction. Mr.

Schoolcraft depicted the adverse circumstances under which the masses

had heretofore labored, in coming under plans of instruction and

Christianity, owing to their poverty; their dispersion over large areas

of country for large parts of the year; the impracticability of their

finding subsistence in large bodies at one place; and the deleterious

influence of the commerce in furs and peltries, on their moral and

mental character. He submitted a report of the proceedings of the St.

Mary's committee, showing, in detail, operations within the year. With

the limited sum of $151 10, they had been able to furnish elder John

Sunday an outfit for Keweena Bay in Lake Superior, and given two other

native converts, namely, John Otanchey and John Cabeach, the means of

pursuing their labors amongst the Chippewas during the winter of 1833.

They had sent an express, during the month of February, to the mission

of the American Board at La Pointe, in Lake Superior. Their minutes of

monthly meetings denoted that a valuable body of information had been

collected, respecting the population and statistics of the Chippewa

nation, and the grammatical structure of their language, &c.

The occasion being coincident with the meeting of the Synod of the

Western Reserve, at Detroit, many gentlemen of learning, benevolence,

and piety, were brought together, and a high degree of interest excited

respecting the condition and prospects of the tribes.

In accordance with a resolution passed the year previous, I recited a

poetic address on the character of the race, which was received with

approbation, and directed to be printed. This had been, in fact,

sketched in a time of leisure in the wilderness some years before.

I returned to Mackinack near the close of October, when I resumed my

traditionary inquiries. It was sought, as a mere matter of tradition, to

obtain from the Indians a recognition of the cession of this island, &c.

made by them to the United States through the instrumentality of Gen.

Wayne, at Greenville, in Ohio, in 1793.

Chusco [67] (muskrat), the old prophet or jossakeed of the Ottawa nation,

had told me of his presence at Greenville, at the treaty, while a young

man, al[67]with others of his tribe. He was a man who would attract

attention, naturally, from the peculiarities of his person and

character. He had been a man of small stature, not over five feet four

inches, when young, and of very light make. But he was now bent by age,

and walked with a staff. His hazel eyes still sparkled in a head of no

striking development, and with a peculiarity of expression of his lips,

gave him a striking expression of placidity in cunning. Hence his name,

which was given by the Indians from some fancied resemblance to this

animal, when jutting its head above water. He had, for forty years, made

_jeesuckáwin_ (prophecying) for his people, when he was converted to

Christianity at the Mackinack Mission. He gave up at once his Indian

rites, but retained, to a great degree, his characteristic expression.

Some one had given him an old blue broadcloth coat with yellow metal

buttons, which he matched with dark-colored trousers, a vest, hat, and

moccasins. I always received him with marked attention, and often sent

him to the kitchen for a meal, where, indeed, the Indians had their

claims ever allowed by Mrs. S.

[Footnote 67: From Wauzhusko.]

_27th_. Muekudapenais, or Blackbird, an Ottawa, chief of L'Arbre Croche,

visited the office. I directed his attention to the tradition mentioned

by Chusco, respecting Wayne's treaty, and the inclusion of

Michilimackinack in the cessions. He confirmed this tradition. He said

that his uncle, Ish-ke-bug-ish-kum, gave the island, and that when he

returned he denied that he had given it, but the British took away his

medal in consequence. He said that three men of the party, who attended

this treaty, were still living. They were Op-wagun, Che-mo-ke-maun, and

Chusco. He thinks the land taken by the late surveys of Mr. Ellis, at

Point St. Ignace, was not given, but admits that the cession embraced

the area around old Mackinack, and the island of Boisblanc. The Indians

called Gen. Wayne _Che Nóden_, the Strong Wind.

_30th_. The series of deposits, which embrace fossil salt, or produce

strong brine water, in the geological column of the rocks of the United

States, constitute a deeply important subject in science, and public

economy. Mr. James R. Rees, of Clyde, Ontario County, N.Y., sends me

the result of borings, made at that place, to the depth of 376 feet,

with samples of the rock, which appear to denote, if I have rightly

judged the geological data, a _roof and floor_, to the saliferous

formation. And the result gives a stimulant to further investigations.

_9th_. Commerce is rapidly invading the wilderness. Wheat in bulk, and

flour in bags and barrels, were brought down from St. Joseph's, through

the straits of Michigan, this fall; which is the first instance of the

kind, but one, in the commercial history of the country. Beef and wheat

were brought from the same post last season.

_Nov. 13th._ A remarkable display of the aurora borealis was observed

last night. The Indians, who call this phenomenon _Jebiug nemeiddewaud_,

or dancing spirits, describe it as radiating balls, streams of fire or

falling stars from the zenith into the lake.

Mr. Wm. Johnston, who was at Leech Lake, on the sources of the

Mississippi, describes the changing phenomena as wonderful. "The

weather," he says (13th Nov.), "is still very pleasant, with very little

frost at night. About two or three o'clock in the morning one of the men

came and awoke me. 'Come and see a strange sight,' he said. We went to

the door, where we saw, every now and then, stars shooting or falling.

The centre from whence they first appeared to the eye was, to us, nearly

in a direct line above our heads--from whence they went in all

directions, to all points of the compass. Most all our village people

were looking at them with fearful astonishment, and they were making

their remarks as their feelings caused them. We went in the house, and

each smoked his pipe, and we could not say much about the cause of what

we had seen, but only expressed our astonishment to each other.

"Before going to bed, we thought we would take another look at the

heavens. What a sight it was! The whole heaven appeared to be lit with

the falling stars, and we could now more plainly see, as it were, the

centre from whence they would shoot. The night was calm, the air clear;

nothing to disturb the stillness, but the hushed breathings of the men.

The stars were accompanied with a rustling noise, and, though they

appeared to fall as fast and as thick as hail, above them, now and then,

we could see some of the fixed stars, shining as bright as ever. But

these (falling stars) appeared to be far below them. I can compare it to

nothing more comprehensive than a hail storm. The sight was grand beyond

description. Yet I must confess that my feelings were awed into a

perfect silence. We stood and gazed, till we saw the bright streaks of

day appearing, and the stars began gradually to be less in number, till

the light of the sun caused them to disappear."

_28th_. I resumed the old traditions. Mrs. Michael Dousman observes that

her father (McDonnel) came to the island, with the troops, in 1782. That

the government house, so called, was then built, and a few other

buildings, but nothing as yet had been done towards the present fort on

the cliff. Gov. Sinclair, so called, was then in command. He was

relieved that year by Captain Robinson.

She thinks the removal from old Mackinack must have taken place about

1778 or 1779, under Sinclair. The inhabitants transferred their

residences gradually, bringing over the sashes and doors of their old

houses and setting them up here.

After the massacre, the troops remained some time. The Indians had not

burned the fort.

Says that Wawetum, the Indian chief, became blind, and was burned,

accidentally, in his lodge at the point (Ottawa Point). I had been

inquiring about Henry's account of him.

The Indians at Mackinack, she says, opposed its occupancy. Things came

to such a height in 1782 that Gov. Sinclair sent to Detroit for cannon.

It was a remarkable fact that the brig Dunmore, sent down on this

occasion, was absent from the island but _eight day_, during which she

went to and returned from Detroit, bringing the expected supply. She

entered Mackinack harbor on the eighth day, on the same hour she had

left it, and fired a salute.

Mrs. Dousman says that charges had been preferred against Gov. Sinclair

(the term constantly used by the old inhabitants) for extravagance. He

had, as an example, paid at the rate of a dollar per stump for clearing

a cedar swamp, which is now part of the public fields.

Respecting the massacre in 1763, she says that Mr. Solomons and a Mr.

Clark, the latter long resident with Mr. Abbot, were present.

_30th_. Mr. Abbot (Sam.) says he arrived at Mackinack in 1803. The

government-house was then occupied by Col. Hunt. A man named Clark, who

had formerly lived with him, was a boy in the employ of Solomons at the

massacre of old Mackinack. He crept up a chimney, where he remained a

day or two, and was thus saved. Solomons hid himself under a heap of

corn, and was thus saved.

Mr. Abbot does not know, with certainty, the date of the transfer of the

post, but says the papers of all the notaries, including all grants of

commanding officers, are in a trunk at Mr. Dousman's. Thinks these, by

showing the date of the earliest grants, will decide the question.

_Dec. 1st_. Finished an article for the _Literary and Theological

Review_, on the influence of the native priests, or metais, and the

adaptation of the general principles of Christianity to the North

American Indians. Some of the phenomena of the Chippewa language are of

deep interest. The substantive verb _to be_, deemed by many philologists

to be wanting in the Indian language of this continent, is perceived to

be freely used by Mr. Peter Jones in the translation of John, as in c.

i. 1, 6, 15, &c. The existence of this verb in the northern dialects may

be adverted to as affording the probable root of many active verbs. It

is a subject eliciting discussion, as bearing on a point early stated by

theologians, viz., the origin of the tribes. The verb _iau_, spelled

"ahyah" in the verses referred to, with the particle, for past tense,

"ke," prefixed, and "bun" suffixed, appears to be restricted in its use

to objects possessed of _vitality_, but cannot, it seems, be applied to

mere _passion_ or _feeling_. These, by a peculiarity of the grammar, are

referred to as subordinate parts, or increments inanimate of the

organization, _i. e._, as things without flesh and blood, and not as

units or whole bodies. The native speaker does not, therefore, say I

_am_ glad, I _am_ sorry, &c., but merely I glad, I sorry, &c. This has,

probably, led philologists to observe that the verb declarative of

existence, was wanting, and discouraged them in the search of it. But is

it so? When it becomes necessary for the Indian to describe the abstract

truth of existence--as that God _is_--the appropriate pronominal form of

the verb _iau_ or _I-e-au_ is used, and apparently with great force and

propriety. It is a rule of this grammar, not to apply it to emotions.

When nouns inanimate proper are used, or objects of a non-vital

character, the corresponding verb is _atta_. The present tense,

indicative of these two parallel verbs, for material and for god-like

existence, are as follows:--

Iau (animate) _To be_. Atta (inanimate)--_To be_.

Nin, Diau--_I am_, or _my spirit is_. Atta--_It is_.

Ki, Diau--_Thou art_, &c. Atta-aun--_They are_.

Iau--_He (or she) is_. Atta-bun--_it was_.

Nin, Diau-min (ex.)--_We_ (excluding you) _are_. Atta-aubun--_They have been_.

Ki, Diau-min (in.)--_We_ (including you) _are_. Iah atta--_It shall be_.

Ki, Diau-ni--_Ye are_. Iah atta-win--_They shall be_.

Iau-wug--_They are_.

There is probably no language so barbarous as not to have words to

address God. But, of all languages under heaven, the Indian dialects

appear to me the most fruitful in terminations and adjuncts to point

their expressions, and to give to them living and spiritual meanings.

They appear, by their words, to live in a world of spirits. Aside from

the direct words for Father, as the universal Parent, and of Maker, and

Great Spirit, they have an exact term for the Holy Ghost; and he who has

ever heard a converted Indian pray, and can understand his petition,

will never afterwards wish to read any philological disquisitions about

the adaptation of their languages to the purposes of Christianity.

_Dec. 2d_. I determined that part of the diversions of my first winter

at Mackinack should consist of notices of its meteorology, the changes

of winds and currents in the straits, &c. Shut out from the world by a

long expanse of coasts, which cannot be navigated in the winter, much of

the sum of our daily observation must necessarily take its impress from

local objects. To pass a winter in the midst of one of the great

lakes--the Huron--was itself a subject of excitement. Mild weather had

characterized the season, which had been predicted by some persons as

the consequence of the remarkable meteoric displays in November.

At the monthly concert in the evening, interesting statements were made

on the efforts now in progress to evangelize the world. In this the

Bible, tract, and mission causes were shown to act with

harmonious power.

_3d_. I employed myself in the morning in a revision of papers relating

to subjects of natural history, and in references to Conybeare and

Phillips. In the evening, the Rev. Mr. Ferry and Mr. Barber

were visitors.

_4th_. The last vessel for the season, the "Marengo," left the harbor

for Detroit, taking on board our expressmen, who are to return by land.

The weather has continued mild, with the winds from the westward and

southward.

_6th_. Some rain fell in the evening, which did not, however, prevent

friends from passing the evening with us.

_7th_. Weather still mild.

_10th_. The continued mildness of the atmosphere has induced the Indians

from the adjacent shores to visit the island. There are no Indians

permanently resident on it. Within the last ten days, rising of eighty

souls have visited the agency and shops. Some have iron work to mend.

Most of them have applied for provisions. Several aged persons and

widows have asked for blankets.

I employed the day in reading Humboldt's "Superposition of Rocks in

both Hemispheres." Humboldt is the Dr. Johnson of geology.

_11th_. Kwewis, a Chippewa convert, returned, after spending a week or

more among the Point St. Ignace Indians. He complained of the

listlessness and want of attention of the Indians to the truths by Mr.

G., his spiritual guide.

I determined to send an express, as soon as the state of the ice will

permit, to St. Mary's, with directions for its continuance from that

place to La Pointe, in Lake Superior--the missionary station.

_12th_. The meteorologic phenomena begin to thicken. The thermometer, at

2 P.M. to-day, stood at 48°, Some snow, of a moist, sleety character.

Wind easterly. Not a particle of ice has formed in the harbor up to

this day.

_13th_. Perused Stewart's visit to the South Seas and the Sandwich

Islands. Certainly the author is one of the most gifted religious

travelers. He reminds the reader, by his graphic descriptions, sometimes

of Bishop Heber. It is remarkable, that with every improvement, the

population of these islands declines.

A blow from the east, with depression of temperature, and some snow.

_14th_. Easterly wind continues. Thermometer at noon 38°.

_16th_. Strong easterly winds.

_17th_. On rising this morning and drawing the curtains aside, I

observed a vessel in the harbor from Detroit. It proved to be the

"General Warren," with supplies for the inhabitants, ordered in the

fall, but, for two or three weeks back, not expected. By her we have New

York city papers to Nov. 26th, and Detroit dates to Dec. 4th. What a

jumble is a newspaper! Here we have the death of Ferdinand of Spain, and

the report of troubles in Europe: the appointment of Mr. Butler as

Attorney-General, and the busy note of editorial discussion preparatory

to the meeting of Congress; the result of elections, progress of

nullification, "cussin and discussion" by Jack Downing, a terrible list

of murders, accidents, &c. Prominent among things for scientific

readers, are accounts of the meteoric phenomena of November.

_18th_. Dispatched an express to St. Mary's with letters for the

sub-agency, missionaries, &c. In the evening the vessel sailed for

Detroit with a light westerly breeze, which is fair.

Mr. Abbot, being in the office during the day, remarked that he had

examined the old records before alluded to; that the first public act of

the commanding officer is the appointment of a notary by Gov. Sinclair

in 1780; the next is a grant of land in 1781.

Stating these facts afterwards to Mr. Mitchell (William), he observed

that his father, who was the post surgeon, remarked that the removal of

the troops from old Mackinack was the year after the massacre, which

would be 1764. This is astounding. Yet Carver's Mackinack, in 1766,

appears to have been "old Mackinack."

_19th_. Thanksgiving day for the territory. A practical discourse from

Mr. Ferry. Lieut. and Mrs. K., &c., to dinner. The Indian Kwewis returns

to St. Mary's, accompanied by Mr. Cameron.

_20th_. Mr. Mitchell passed the evening.

_21st_. Visited Mr. Ferry in the afternoon. Conversation on various

religious topics. Coming home, found company; Lieut. and Mrs. P., Miss

D., and Miss H., who remained to tea, and spent the evening.

_22d_. S. visited the infant-school in the village, and made some

remarks.

_24th_. Visited Mr. Barber, who directed conversation to various

theological points, and the state of religion on the island.

_25th_. Christmas. The Catholics have had the usual services, and have

gone to the usual extremes of a pantomimic ceremony at midnight, &c. As

a question of time, we cannot say that this is the exact day of the

anniversary of the Saviour's birth; but the computation and adjustment

of dates were made, I believe, on the best astronomical data, and before

the Romish Church assumed political power.

_26th_. Wind N. W. Depression of temperature; freezes all day. Mr. F.

visited me, and directed my attention to the Mosaical geology, or

account of the creation, which he thinks the pride of science has sadly

misunderstood.

_27th_. Snow. No ice; not the slightest _bordage_ yet in the harbor.

Lieut. P., Mrs. P., Mrs. K., and Dr. Turner visit. In the afternoon, the

Maternal Association, at Mrs. Schoolcraft's invitation, assemble. I

wrote to Prof. Olmstead a notice of the falling stars of Nov. 13th, as

described by the Indians.

_28th_. Wind from the westward and southward; moderate for the season.

_29th_. Wind veers to the east.

_30th_. A blow on the lake, creating a perfect tempest. Before noon, the

wind veers south-easterly, and snow melts on the roofs.

Ackuckojeesh and band, from the north shore, visit the office. He

presents me a small _mukuk_ of maple sugar, made during the month, as a

proof of the mildness of the weather.

Continue my biblical readings, with a view of noticing the coincidence

of passages referred to by clergymen who have visited me. Quite

satisfied that "day," in Gen. i, 5, means, in that place, a natural day

of twenty-four hours. The context cannot be read without it. Mr. M. and

Mr. Stuart pass the evening.

_31st_. No thawing to-day. There has been quite a blow on the lake.

Began some sketches of biblical geology.

CHAPTER XLIX.

Population of Michilimackinack--Notices of the weather--Indian name of

the Wolverine--Harbor closed--Intensity of temperature which can be

borne--Domestic incidents--State of the weather--Fort Mackinack

unsuccessfully attacked in 1814--Ossiganoc--Death of an Indian

woman--Death of my sister--Harbor open--Indian name of the Sabbath

day--Horticultural amusement--Tradition of the old church door--Turpid

conduct of Thomas Shepard, and his fate--Wind, tempests, sleet, snow--A

vessel beached in the harbor--Attempt of the American Fur Company to

force ardent spirits into the country, against the authority of

the Agent.

1834. _Jan. 1st_. My journal for this winter will be almost purely

domestic. It is intended to exhibit a picture of men and things,

immediately surrounding a person isolated from the world, on an island

in the wide area of Lake Huron, at the point where the current, driven

by the winds, rushes furiously through the straits connected with Lake

Michigan. Where the ice in the winter freezes and breaks up continually,

where the temperature fluctuates greatly with every wind, and where the

tempests of snow, rain and hail create a perpetual scene of changing

phenomena.

Society here is scarcely less a subject of remark. It is based on the

old French element of the fur trade--that is, a commonalty who are the

descendants of French or Canadian boatmen, and clerks and interpreters

who have invariably married Indian women. The English, who succeeded to

power after the fall of Quebec, chiefly withdrew, but have also left

another element in the mixture of Anglo-Saxons, Irishmen or Celts, and

Gauls, founded also upon intermarriages with the natives. Under the

American rule, the society received an accession of a few females of

various European or American lineage, from educated and refined circles.

In the modern accession, since about 1800, are included the chief

factors of the fur trade, and the persons charged by benevolent

societies with the duties of education and of missionaries; and, more

than all, with the families of the officers of the military and civil

service of the government.

In such a mass of diverse elements the French language, the Algonquin,

in several dialects, and the English, are employed. And among the

uneducated, no small mixture of all are brought into vogue in the

existing vocabulary. To _fouchet_, and to _chemai_, were here quite

common expressions.

The continued mildness of the weather enabled the Indians from the

surrounding shore to approach the island, not less than fifty-four of

whom, in different parties, visited the office during the day. This day

is a sort of carnival to these people, who are ever on the _qui vive_

for occasions "to ask an alms." I had prepared for this. To each person

a loaf of bread.

To adult males a plug of tobacco. No drink of any kind, but water, to a

soul.

Snow fell during the day, rendering it unpleasant.

_Jan. 2d_. Shabowâwa, a Chippewa chief, and part of his band, with the

remainder of the Point St. Ignace band, got across the _Traverse_ this

morning. The whole number who visited the office during the day was

thirty. Shabowâwa said we might soon expect cold weather.

_3d_. Visits from a number of Indians (about twenty), who had not before

called, to offer the _bon jour_ of the season. Among them were several

widows and disabled old people, to whom presents of clothing were given.

The atmosphere has been severely cold. A hard frost last night. I killed

an ox for winter beef, and packed it, when cut into pieces, in snow.

There has been floating ice, for the first time, in the harbor. The

severe weather prevented the St. Ignace Indians from returning.

One of the St. Ignace Indians, referring to the meteoric phenomenon of

the morning of the 13th of November, said that the stars shot over in

the form of a bow, and seemed to drop into the lake. Such a display, he

added, was never before seen. He says that the Chippewa Indians called

the Wolverine "Gween-guh-auga," which means underground drummer. This

animal is a great digger or burrower.

_4th_. Stormy and cold.

_5th_. S. Cold. Mr. Barber preached on the character and trials of

Noah. The old N.E. divines loved to preach from texts in the Old

Testament.

_6th_. A change of wind from N. to S.W. created a very perceptible

increase of temperature. Indians, who had been detained by floating ice

since New Year's day, got over to Point St. Ignace.

The postmaster sends me word that the second express will start

to-morrow, without awaiting the return of the first.

On visiting the monthly concert in the evening, I was reminded that this

day had been set apart by various churches for imploring a special

blessing on the Word of God, in the conversion of the world.

_7th_. Yesterday afternoon the harbor filled with floating ice. This

morning it is frozen over into a solid body, completely closing up the

harbor. But the passage between it and Round Island is open, and the

lake in other directions. Wind northerly and westwardly; thermometer as

on the 3d, 4th, and 5th; but the air does not _feel_ to be as cold as

those days. This is the effect of its having remained about a week of

nearly the same temperature. It is, in truth, the range of the

thermometer between given points, and not the absolute degree of it,

that creates the sensation of intense change. And herein must be sought

the secret of people's standing a great degree of cold in the north,

without being duly sensible of the extreme degree of it. This remark

ought, perhaps, to be limited to such severe degree of cold (say 40°

below zero), as a man can withstand or live in.

The ice, being only glued together, separated about 2 o'clock, and left

the harbor free again before night.

The express from St. Mary's came in, about two hours after our Detroit

express left. By letters brought by it, I learn that letters of recall

have recently passed the _Sault_ for Capt. Back. It is stated that Capt.

Ross has unexpectedly returned to England, after an absence of four

years, great part of which time he had passed among the Esquimaux, or in

an open boat on the sea. That he had made observations to fix the

magnetic meridian, and had discovered a large island, almost the size of

Great Britain, which he named Boothea.

Mr. Ferry, Lieut. Kingsbury, and Mr. P. passed the evening with us.

Fires were seen on the main land, which are supposed to be signals from

our express men.

_8th_. Snow--blustering--cold. Our first express to Detroit has so far

overstayed its time, that it is impossible to say when it may now be

expected. Fires again seen on the main land, and an unsuccessful attempt

made to reach them, the floating ice preventing.

_9th_. Maternal Association meets at my house, which, Mrs. S. reports,

is well attended. In the evening, Mr. H., Mr. J., Miss McF., and Miss S.

Floating ice in the straits, and no crossing.

_11th_. Snowing--blustering. Expecting the mail soon, I prepared my

letters, and, being Saturday, sent them to the post-office, lest the

mail should arrive and depart on Sunday.

_13th_, Deep snow drifts, stormy--cold. Very difficult, in consequence

of the drifts, to reach the teacher's concert, in the evening, which met

at the Court House. Meeting between Mr. D. and Mr. Ferry at my house, to

try the effects of conciliation.

_14th_. High wind died away last night: the sun rose, this morning,

clear and pleasant, but the air still cold. Ice completely fills the

channel between Boisblanc and the main harbor; the outer channel is

still open.

Mrs. Kingsbury passed the day with us. The church session on examination

accepts her, and Mr. D. Stuart, the gentleman named in Irving's

_Astoria_.

_15th_. The express from Detroit arrives, having crossed from the main

to Boisblanc on the ice, and from thence in a boat. By this mail we have

a week's later dates than were brought by the "Warren." No political

intelligence of importance. I received a number of printed sheets of the

appendix to the narrative of my tour to _Itasca Lake_. Heard also from

LeConte, the engraver, at New York.

_16th_. Took Mr. D. in my cariole to Mr. Ferry's, to further the object

of a reconciliation of the matters in difference between them. It

commenced raining, soon after we got there, and continued steadily all

evening. Got a complete wetting in coming home, and in driving to the

fort Mrs. Kingsbury, whom I found there.

_17th_. Yesterday's fain has much diminished the quantity of snow; bare

ground is to be seen in some spots. Atmosphere murky, and surcharged

with moisture, rendering it disagreeable to be out of doors.

The soldiery of the garrison invite Mr. F. to hold a meeting in the

garrison every Sabbath afternoon, showing an awakened moral sense

among them.

_18th_. Depression of the atmospheric temperature. Frost renders the

walking slippery, and the snow crusted and hard. This condition of

things, in the forest, is fatal to wild hoofed animals, which at every

step are subject to break through, and cut their ankles. In this way the

Indians successfully pursue and take the moose and reindeer of

our region.

_19th_. Mr. David S. and Mrs. K. are admitted to the communion, on a

profession of faith, and Mr. Seymour, Miss Owen, and Miss Leverett, by

letter. The Rev. Mr. and Mrs. Barber were also, for the first

time, present.

Snow fell upon the previous glare surface, and, being attended with

wind, rendered the day very blustering and boisterous. The wind being

from the west, was very strong--so strong as to blow some persons down.

The temperature at the same time was quite cold.

_20th_. Coldness continued; the thermometer stood at only 2° above zero

at 8 o'clock in the morning; the west wind continuing. The air, in

consequence of this depression, became colder than the water of the

lake, producing an interchange of temperature, and the striking

phenomenon of rising vapor. The open lake waters gave out their latent

heat, like a boiling pot, till the equilibrium was restored. This

singular phenomenon I had seen before in the North, and it is to be

observed, in the basin of the upper lakes, some days every winter.

I received a visit from Mr. Barber. Conversation on the state of

religious knowledge. Do geology and the natural sciences afford external

evidence of the truth of God's word?

_21st_. Atmospheric temperature still low; the thermometer at 8 o'clock

A.M. standing at 9° above zero. The harbor and straits, between the

island and Point St. Ignace, frozen over; but the channel, in which,

there is a strong current, between the outer edge of the harbor and

Round Island, still open. Along this edge very deep water is immediately

found, and these waters, under the pressure of lake causes, rush with

the force of a mill-race. _22d_. The air is slightly warmer, the

thermometer standing at 8 o'clock, A.M., at 16° above zero. The

soldiery further request of Mr. F. to hold a Bible class in the fort.

_23d_. The temperature still rises a few degrees, the thermometer

standing at 21° at 8 o'clock, A.M. The express from the _Sault_

arrives. Prepared my mail matter and dispatched it to the office.

_24th_. The thermometer falls five degrees, standing at 16° at 8 o'clock

A.M.; but in consequence of the cessation of winds at night, and

accumulation of floating ice, the open districts of the lake were

entirely frozen over. Kebec, the _Sault_ expressman, went off on his way

to Detroit, at a very early hour, walking on the ice from about abreast

of the Old Still House, direct to the main. The thermometer in the fort

was observed to be, at one time during the night, at 5° below zero,

denoting more intense cold than my 8 o'clock observation indicates. This

is, therefore, so far, the maximum cold for January.

_25th_. A strong easterly wind broke up the ice, which was solid, as far

as the Light-House, about ten miles, and again exposed the limpid bosom

of the lake in that direction; but it did not disturb the straits west.

My son John began, this day, to pronounce words having the sound of _r_,

for which, agreeably to a natural organic law recognized by

philologists, he has heretofore substituted the sound of _l_.

_26th_. S. A sermon on the inefficacy of the prayer of faith without

submission to God's better wisdom. I was this day set apart as an elder.

_27th_. The temperature, which has risen since the 24th, still rises,

creating a perceptible change in feelings. Visited Mr. Agnew, who

reached the island from the Sault yesterday.

_28th_. The harbor breaks up with a south-east wind, but the ice remains

firm between the island and the main, and in the direction to Pt. St,

Ignace. This wind is attended with a farther moderation of the

temperature. I fell in descending the steep hill, which is exposed to

the south, in coming back from a visit to Lieut. Penrose, in the fort.

This fort is what engineers call a _talus_, being, as I suppose, the

exact area, very nearly, of the top of a cliff overlooking the town. It

was very effective for controlling the Indians, but was found in 1812 to

be commanded by a still higher point within cannon range, which was

seized and fortified by the British.

This apex they made the site of Fort George; the Americans changed the

name to Fort Holmes, after a gallant officer, a Kentuckian, who fell in

the unsuccessful attempt of Col. Croghan to retake the island in 1814.

_29th_. The temperature still rises, and is mild for the season. Gave

each of my children a new copy of the Scriptures. If these truths are

important, as is acknowledged, they cannot too early know them. I

visited Mr. Mitchell.

_30th_, The temperature continues to moderate. Drove to the mission,

accompanied by Mr. D., to converse, at his request, with Mr. Barber, on

the unhappy topics of difference between him and Mr. F. Mr. and Mrs.

Abbott called at my house, in the interval, and were received by Mrs. S.

In the evening I attended the social prayer meeting at Mr. Dousman's.

_31st_. The sun shone clear; no snow, no high winds, but a serene and

pleasant atmosphere. Visits were received from Maj. Whistler and Lieut.

Kingsbury. Conversation on the probable reception of the President's

Message, etc., by our next express.

This being Mrs. Schoolcraft's birth-day, I presented her a Bible.

_Feb. 1st_. The mildness and pleasantness of the weather continued.

Drove out to Mr. Davenport's with Mrs. Schoolcraft and the children.

Davenport is a Virginian. He was one of the residents driven off the

island by the events of the late war, and was on board of Commodore St.

Clair's squadron, sailing around the island, and in sight of his own

home, during the expedition to recapture the island, in 1814. For his

sufferings and losses he ought to have been remunerated by the

Government, whom he faithfully served.

Our second express from Detroit arrived, bringing us the expected

newspaper intelligence, and letters from friends. Heard of the alarming

illness of my sister, in Oneida County, N.Y.

_2d_. S. A sermon on the often handled subjects of election and free

grace--how God elects, and how man is free to come himself.

_3d_. Devoted to newspaper reading. In the evening attended the monthly

concert.

_4th_. A small party at dinner, namely, Major Whistler, Lieut.

Kingsbury, Mr. Agnew, Mr. Stuart the elder, Mr. Abbott, Mr. Dousman, and

Mr. Johnston. The weather continues mild, clear, and calm. In the

evening I prepared my mail matter for the Sault, intending to dispatch

it by a private express to-morrow.

_5th_. Finished and dispatched my mail for St. Mary's by two Indians,

who set out at ten o'clock A.M. I received an official visit from

Ossiganac, and seven men from the village of L'Arbre Croche. He stated

it to be the wish of the Ottawas, to visit Washington. The reasons for

such a visit arose from a desire to see the President, on the subject of

their lands. Many of these lands were denuded of game. Drummond Island

had been abandoned. They thought themselves entitled to compensation for

it. They were poor and indebted to the traders. The settlements would

soon intrude on their territories. Wood was now cut for the use of

steamboats and not paid for. They had various topics to confer about.

This was, in fact, the first move of the Lake Indians, leading in the

sequel to the important treaty of March 28th, 1836.

_6th_. The thermometer is again depressed, and a recurrence of easterly

winds.

_7th_. The depression of temperature creates the sensation of _coldness_

after the late mild weather, although the thermometer, examined at 8

o'clock, has not fallen below 26°, but six degrees below the

freezing point.

I embodied Ossiganac's remarks in a letter to the Department, and also

requesting the survey of the old grants under Wayne's Treaty of 1793. I

likewise proposed the establishment of an Indian Academy at

Michilimackinack for the Indian tribes of the upper lakes. Mackinack has

peculiar facilities of access in the open months for a large circle of

cognate tribes; and, in view of a future cession of the country, these

tribes will possess ample means. I wrote to my sister Catharine, in the

prospect of her dying of consumption; directing her mind to the great

moral remedy in the intercession of Christ.

_8th_. Our third express for Detroit left this morning. The day was

clear and calm, with the thermometer at 30° at 8 o'clock. I began

sketching some remarks, to be transmitted to the American Lyceum, on the

best mode of educating the Indians.

_9th_. S. Mild. An Indian woman was buried to-day, who has borne the

character of a Christian. As her end drew near she said she did not fear

to "pass through the valley of death." She appeared to be prepared to

die, and had the testimony of Christians in her behalf, many of whom

attended her funeral. As a general fact, the Christian Indians whom I

have known, seize with great simplicity of faith on an Intercessor and

his promises.

_10th_. Mild. In consequence of the protracted mildness of the weather,

Indians from Thunder Bay visited the office. They spoke of the meteoric

phenomenon of November. I asked the leader of the party what he thought

of it. He replied that it betokened evil to the Indian race--that

sickness would visit them calamitously.

In the evening the wind veered from a favorable quarter suddenly to the

north, producing a strong sensation of cold.

_12th_. Dine with Kingsbury.

_13th_. Dine with Mitchell. In the afternoon Mr. F. and Mr. D. met by

appointment at my house, to endeavor to close their accounts and

terminate their difficulties.

_14th_. Yesterday's effort to compromise matters between F. and D. was

continued and brought to a close, so far as respected items of account;

but this left unhealed the wounds caused by mutual hard thoughts, of a

moral character, and for which there has seemed, to Christians, in Mr.

D., a cause of disciplinary inquiry. I felt friendly to Mr. D., and

thought that he was a man whose pride and temper, and partly Christian

ignorance, had induced to stand unwittingly in error. But he took

counsel of those who do not appear to have been actuated by the most

conciliatory views. He stood upon his weakest points with an iron brow

and "sinews of brass."

_15th_. Visited Mr. Barber. Meeting in the evening at Mr. Mitchell's.

_16th_. Snow.

_17th_. The temperature fell several degrees, and lake closed, as seen

at a distance. I finished my remarks for the American Lyceum.

_18th_. Engaged in pursuing Mr. F.'s lectures, delivered at a prior

time, on the character and differences between the Protestant and

Romish Churches.

_19th_. The weather assumes a milder turn, and gives us rain. Messrs.

F. and D., having called on Mr. Mitchell, renew their meeting at

my house.

_20th_. Rain and thunder.

_21st_. Temperate; sinks and turns cold in the evening.

_22d_. Cold, with some snow.

_23d_. Thermometer continues to sink, and the ice is reported as having

become strong everywhere.

_24th_. The third express from Detroit came in at an early hour, and my

letters and papers were brought in before breakfast. During breakfast I

opened a letter, announcing the death of my sister Catharine, on the 9th

of January, at Vernon, N. Y.

Mr. Agnew and Mr. Chapman, who have been guests on the island, set out

for the Sault. The lake is now finally and strongly closed by a covering

of solid ice. Trains cross to-day, for the first time, to Point

St. Ignace.

_25th_. Mr. Levake, another guest on the island, called at eight o'clock

for my letters, with a view of overtaking the party who left yesterday.

_26th_. Wind west, and so strong as to drive the ice out between the

harbor and the light-house, but did not affect the harbor itself, nor

the straits.

_27th_. Snow and rain. Richardson May, a discharged soldier, and Manito

Geezhig (Spirit-sky), a Chippewa Indian, arrived with the express mail

for Saginaw.

_28th_. The weather is mild again. An express from the Hudson's Bay

Company departed for Saginaw, at seven o'clock A.M. The adverb

"fiducially" first brought to my notice, as the synonym of confidently,

steadily. Finished the perusal of Mr. F.'s manuscript lectures, on the

Romish Church. Think them an offhand practical appeal to truth, clear in

method, forcible in illustration. Learning and research, such as are to

be drawn from books other than the Bible, have not been evidently relied

on. They might not do to print without revision. The New Testament does

not, as an example, declare that Peter ever was at Rome, and yet that

fact, got from other sources, is much relied on by that Church.

_March 1st._ The change in temperature continues. It is so mild and warm

that the snow melts.

_2d_. S. Mild, and Sabbath exercise as usual.

_3d_. The temperature falls, and it becomes sensibly cold and wintry.

The sky and lower atmosphere, however, remain clear.

Cadotte, an expressman from La Pointe, Lake Superior, arrived in the

course of the afternoon, with letters from Mr. Warren. Miss W., Miss D.

and Mr. J., pass the evening.

_4th_. Weather mild; snow soft and sloppy. Receive visits from Mr.

Abbott, Mr. Ferry, and Mr. Mitchell.

_5th_. Snow has melted so much, in consequence of the change of

temperature, that I am compelled to stop my team from drawing wood. The

ice is so bad that it is dangerous to cross. The lake has been open from

the point of the village to the light-house, since the tempest of the

26th ultimo. The broad lake below the latter point has been open all

winter. The lake west has been, in fact, fast and solidly frozen, so as

to be crossed with trains, but twelve days!

Mr. Warren's express set out for Lake Superior this morning. Our fourth

express from Detroit came in during the evening, bringing New York dates

to the 4th of February.

_6th_. The evidences of the approach of spring continue. The sun shines

with a clear power, unobstructed by clouds. Snow and ice melt rapidly.

Visited the Mission's house in the evening.

_7th_. Clouds intercept the sun's rays. An east wind broke up the ice in

the harbor, and drives much floating ice up the lake.

_8th_. The wind drives away the broken and floating ice from the harbor,

and leaves all clear between it and Round Island. It became cold and

freezing in the afternoon. Conference and prayer meetings at my house.

_9th_. Very slippery, and bad walking, and icy roads. Freezes.

_10th_. In consequence of the increase of cold, and the prevalence of a

calm during the night, there was formed a complete coating of ice over

the bay, extending to Round Island. This ice was two inches thick. Mrs.

Schoolcraft spent the evening at Mrs. Dousman's. On coming home, about

nine o'clock, we found the ice suddenly and completely broken up by a

south wind, and heaped up along shore.

_11th_. Harbor and channel quite clear; the weather has assumed a

mildness, although the sky is overcast, and snow drifted in the roads

during the morning. Miss Jones, Mr. D. Stuart, Dr. Turner, and Mr.

Johnston spent the evening with me.

_12th_. Filled my ice-house with ice of a granular and indifferent

quality, none other to be had.

_13th_. Mild, thawing, spring-like weather. Visits by Captain and Mrs.

Barnum.

_14th_. About eight o'clock this morning, a vessel from Detroit dropped

anchor in the harbor, causing all hearts to be gay at the termination of

our wintry exclusion from the world. It proved to be the "Commodore

Lawrence," of Huron, Ohio, on a trip to Green Bay. Our last vessel left

the harbor on the 18th of December, making the period of our

incarceration just eighty-five days, or but two and a half months.

Visited by Lieut. and Mrs. Lavenworth.

_15th_. Mild and pleasant. Plucked the seed of the mountain ash in front

of the agency dwelling, and planted it on the face of the cliff behind

the house. Mr. Chapman arrived with express news from the _Sault_.

_16th_. S. _Anni-me-au-gee-zhick-ud_, as the Indians term it, and a far

more appropriate term it is than the unmeaning Saxon phrase of

_/Sunday_.

_17th_. Very mild and pleasant day. The snow is rapidly disappearing

under the influence of the sun. Mackinack stands on a horse-shoe bay, on

a narrow southern slope of land, having cliffs and high lands

immediately back of it, some three hundred feet maximum height. It is,

therefore, exposed to the earliest influences of spring, and they

develop themselves rapidly. Mr. Hulbert arrived from the _Sault_ in the

morning, bringing letters from Rev. Mr. Clark, Mr. Audrain, my sub-agent

at that point, &c.

_18th_. Wind southerly. This drives the ice from the peninsula into the

harbor, it then shifts west, and drives it down the lake. A lowering sky

ends with a sprinkling of rain in the forenoon; it then clears up, and

the sun appears in the afternoon. Dr. Turner visits me at the office.

Conversation turns on my translations into the Indian, and the

principles of the language. An Indian has a term for man and for white;

but, when he wishes to express the sense of white man, he employs

neither. He then compounds the term _wa-bish-kiz-zi-_--that is,

white person.

_19th_. The weather is quite spring-like. Prune cherry trees and currant

bushes. Transplant plum tree sprouts. Messrs. Biddle and Drew finish

preparing their vessel, and anchor her out.

_20th_. The thermometer sinks to 18° at eight o'clock A.M. Snows, and

is boisterous all day, the wind being north-east.

_21st_. The snow, which has continued falling all night, is twelve to

fourteen inches deep in the morning; being the heaviest fall of snow, at

one time, all winter. Some ice is formed.

_22d_. The body of snow on the ground, and the continuance of cold, give

quite a wintery aspect to the landscape. In the course of the day, Mr.

Ferry, Mr. Mitchell, and Mr. Stuart call.

_23d_. S. Cold.

_24th_. Wintery feeling and aspect.

_25th_. The temperature still sinks. Visits from Mr. Mitchell, Mr.

Ferry, and Mr. Stuart. Mr. and Mrs. Mitchell, Mr. Hulbert, Mr. Chapman,

and Mr. Johnston spend the evening.

_26th_. Drove, with Mr. Ferry, to Mr. Boyd's, and thence to Mr.

Davenport's.

_27th_. Ice still lingers in the harbor, but the day is clear and

sunshiny, and the snow melts rapidly. Visit the mission, and inquire

into the effects of its government and discipline on the character of

the boys, one or two of whom have been recently the subject of some

scandals. Accompanied in this visit by Mr. Hulbert, Mr. Stuart, and Mr.

Mitchell. Thomas Shepard, a mission boy, calls on me at an early hour,

and states his contrition for his agency in any reports referred to.

_28th_. Weather mild; snow melts; wind S.W.; some rain.

With this evening's setting sun,

Years I number forty-one.

Visited the officers in the fort. Rode out in my carriage in the

evening, with Mrs. Schoolcraft, to see Mr. and Mrs. Mitchell, and Mr.

and Mrs. Ferry. Satan's emissaries appear to be busy in circulating

scandal respecting our pastor, Mr. F., a person of high moral worth

and probity.

To put these down effectively, it appears necessary to probe them to the

bottom, and ascertain their length and breadth. This was a duty of the

eldership, and it could be thoroughly performed without fear, respecting

a man of Mr. F.'s character. It was necessary, I found, to unmask all

the actors. The scandal appears to be one originating with certain Metif

boys of the Mission school. One of these, it was averred, had looked

through the key-hole of the common parlor door of the Mission house,

and beheld the Rev. Mr. F. sitting near a Miss S., one of the assistant

missionaries of the establishment. The door was locked. The hair of the

young lady was dishevelled; her comb had fallen on the floor. It was

early in the morning. Another boy was called to look; no change of

position was observed--nothing that was not respectful and proper.

This story was detailed, a night or two afterwards, by Thomas Shepard,

one of the boys, at a drinking conclave in the village, where _bon

vivants_, and some persons inimical to Mr. F. were present, and created

high merriment. From that den it was spread. It appeared that Miss S.

had, for some time, had doubts on the subject of her conversion, and

sought a conversation with her pastor to resolve them.

_29th_. Moderate temperature continues. A meeting of some of the leading

persons of the place, citizens and officers, at which statements,

embracing the above narrative, were made, which were quite satisfactory

in regard to the reports above mentioned. The reports are traced to a

knot of free livers, free drinkers, and infidels, who meet a-nights, in

the village, to be merry, and who drew some of the mission boys into

their revelries. A case of discipline in the church, which led, finally,

to the excommunication of one of the leading persons of the place, has

raised enemies to the Rev. Mr. F., who were present at these orgies, and

helped to spread the report.

_30th_. Service as usual, but more than usually interesting.

_31st_. Mild weather continues; clear and sunny; snow melts. The

remaining ice is completely broken up by an easterly wind. Visit Mr.

Stuart's child, which is very low.

_April 1st_. A dark drizzly morning terminates before ten o'clock in

rain. It cleared away at noon; the broken ice of the day and night

previous, is mostly driven down the lake by westerly winds.

Satisfied of the excellency of the mission school, I sent my children to

it this morning. The Rev. Mr. Ferry, Rev. Mr. Barber, Mr. Mitchell, Mr.

D. Stuart, and Mr. Chapman dine with me. In the evening, Capt. and Mrs.

Barnum, and Lieut. Kingsbury make a visit.

_2d_. The harbor is now entirely clear of ice, with a west wind. Wrote

to Rev. D. Greene, Missionary Rooms, Boston, giving my opinion

respecting the establishment of a mission among the Odjibwas at Fond du

Lac, Lake Superior.

_3d_. Pleasant, mild, clear. Winter has now clearly relaxed his hold.

Indians who came in to-day from L'Arbre Croche, report that the ice is,

however, still firm at Point Wa-gosh-ains (Little Fox Point), on the

straits above. This point forms the bight of the straits, some twenty

miles off, at their entrance into Lake Michigan. Attended the funeral of

William Dolly, a Metif boy, of Indian extraction.

_4th_. The season is visibly advancing in its warmth and mildness. Began

to prepare hot-beds. Set boxes for flowers and tubs for roots.

_5th_. The mission schooner "Supply" leaves the harbor on her first trip

to Detroit, with a fine west wind, carrying our recent guests from St.

Mary's. Transplant flowering shrubs. Miss McFarland passes the day with

Mrs. Schoolcraft at the agency.

_7th_. Cloudy but mild. Adjusting fixtures for gooseberry bushes, &c.

_8th_. Superintending the construction of a small ornamental mound and

side wall to the piazza, for shrubbery and flowers. Books are now thrown

by for the excitement of horticulture. Some Indians visit the office. It

is remarkable what straits and suffering these people undergo every

winter for a bare existence. They struggle against cold and hunger, and

are very grateful for the least relief. _Kitte-mau-giz-ze

Sho-wain-e-min_, is their common expression to an agent--I am poor, show

me pity, (or rather) charity me; for they use their substantives

for verbs.

_9th_. The schooner "White Pigeon," (the name of an Indian chief,)

enters the harbor, with a mail from Detroit. "A mail! a mail!" is the

cry. Old Saganosh and five Indian families come in. The Indians start up

from their wintering places, as if from a cemetery. They seem almost as

lean and hungry as their dogs--for an Indian always has dogs--and, if

they fare poor, the dogs fare poorer.

Resumed my preparations at the garden hot-beds.

The mail brought me letters from Washington, speaking of political

excitements. The project for an Indian academy is bluffed off, by saying

it should come through the Delegate. Major Whiting writes that he is

authorized to have a road surveyed from Saginaw to Mackinack.

_10th_. Engaged at my horticultural mound. The weather continues mild.

_11th_. Transplanting cherry trees.

_12th_. Complete hot-bed, and sow it in part.

_14th_. The calmness and mildness of the last few days are continued.

Spring advances rapidly.

_15th_. Mild, strong wind from the west, but falls at evening. Write to

Washington respecting an Indian academy.

Walking with the Rev. Wm. M. Ferry through the second street of the

village (M.), leading south, as we came near the corner, turning to

Ottawa Point, he pointed out to me, on the right hand, half of a large

door, painted red, arched and filled with nails, which tradition asserts

was the half of the door of the Roman Catholic church at old Mackinack.

The fixtures of the church, as of other buildings, were removed and set

up on this spot. I afterwards saw the other half of the door standing

against an adjoining house.

_16th_. Wind westerly. Begin to enlarge piazza to the agency. A party of

Beaver Island Indians come in, and report the water of the Straits as

clear of ice, and the navigation for some days open.

The schooner "President," from Detroit, dropped anchor in the evening.

_17th_. The schooners "Lawrence," "White Pigeon," and "President," left

the harbor this morning, on their way to various ports on Lake Michigan,

and we are once more united to the commercial world, on the great chain

of lakes above and below us. The "Lawrence," it will be remembered,

entered the harbor on the 14th of March, and has waited thirty-two days

for the Straits to open.

_18th_. Wind N.E., chilly. It began to rain after twelve o'clock A.M.,

which was much wanted by the gardens, as we have had no rain for nearly

a month. All this while the sun has poured down its rays on our narrow

pebbly plain under the cliffs, and made it quite dry.

I was present this morning at the Mission, at the examination of the

Metif boy Thomas Shepard, and was surprised at the recklessness and

turpidity of his moral course, as disclosed by himself, and, at the

announcement of the names of his abettors.

The fate of this boy was singular. He set out alone to return to Sault

Ste. Marie, where his relations lived, across the wilderness. After

striking the main land, his companions returned. All that was ever heard

of him afterwards, was the report of Indians whom I sent to follow his

trail, as the season opened, who found a spot where he had attempted,

unsuccessfully, to strike a fire and encamp. From obscure Indian reports

from the channels called Chenos, the Indians there had been alarmed by

news of the inroads of Na-do-was (Iroquois), and seeing some one on the

shore, in a questionable plight, they fired and killed him. This is

supposed to have been Thomas Shepard.

_19th_. Wind westerly--chilly--cloudy--dark.

_20th_. The "Austerlitz," and "Prince Eugene," two of Mr. Newbery's

vessels, arrived during the afternoon. Rain fell in the evening.

_21st_. The schooner "Nancy Dousman" arrived in the morning from below.

A change of weather supervened. Wind N.E., with snow. The ground is

covered with it to the depth of one or two inches. Water frozen, giving

a sad check to vegetation.

_22d_. This morning develops a north-east storm, during which the "Nancy

Dousman" is wrecked, but all the cargo saved: a proof that the harbor is

no refuge from a north-easter. The wind abates in the evening.

_23d_. Wind west, cloudy, rainy, and some sleet. About midnight the

schooner "Oregon" came in, having rode out the tempest under Point

St. Ignace.

_24th_. Still cold and backward, the air not having recovered its

equilibrium since the late storm.

_25th_. Cloudy and cold--flurries of snow during the day.

_26th_. The weather recovers its warm tone, giving a calm sky and clear

sunshine. The snow of the 21st rapidly disappears, and by noon is quite

gone, and the weather is quite pleasant. The vessels in the harbor

continue their voyages.

_27th_. S. A boat reaches us from the Sault, showing the Straits and

River St. Mary to be open. It brought the Rev. Mr. Clark, of the

Methodist Episcopal Church, who occupies Mr. F.'s position, before the

soldiery, in the evening.

_28th_. The atmosphere is still overcast, although the thermometer

ranges high.

Levake, a trader for the Indian country, went off about two o'clock P.M.

On granting him his license, I directed him to take no ardent spirits.

He therefore ordered a barrel of whisky to be taken back to the American

Fur Company's store, where he had purchased it. Mr. Abbot, the agent,

sent it back to him. Mr. Levake finally remanded it. Mr. Abbot said,

"Why! Mr. Schoolcraft has no authority to prevent your taking it!" The

moment, in fact, the boats leave the island they enter the Indian

country, where the act provides that this article shall not be taken on

any pretence. This was an open triumph of the Agent of the United States

against the Fur Company. I wrote to the Rev. Mr. Boutwell, at Leech

Lake, by this opportunity.

_29th_. The atmosphere has regained its equilibrium fully. It is mild

throughout the day. Indians begin to come in freely from the adjacent

shores. Sow radishes and other early seeds.

_30th_. The schooner "Napoleon," and the "Eliza," from Lake Ontario,

come in. The Indian world, also, seems to have awaked from its winter's

repose. Pabaumitabi visits the office with a large retinue of Ottawas.

Shabowawa with his band appear from the Chenoes. Vessels and canoes now

again cross, each other's track in the harbor.

CHAPTER L.

Visit to Isle Rond--Site of an ancient Indian village--Ossuarie--Indian

prophet--Traditions of Chusco and Yon respecting the ancient village and

bone deposit--Indian speech--Tradition of Mrs. La Fromboise respecting

Chicago--Etymology of the name--Origin of the Bonga family among the

Chippewas--Traditions of Viancour--Of Nolan--Of the chief

Aishquagonaibe, and of Sagitondowa--Evidences of antique cultivation on

the Island of Mackinack--View of affairs at Washington--The Senate an

area of intellectual excitement--A road directed to be cut through the

wilderness from Saginaw--Traditions of Ossaganac and of Little Bear Skin

respecting the Lake Tribes.

_1834. May 1st_. At last "the winter is gone and past," and the voice of

the robin, if not of the "turtle," begins to be heard in the land. The

whole day is mild, clear, and pleasant, notwithstanding a moderate wind

from the east. The schooner "Huron" comes in without a _mail_--a sad

disappointment, as we have been a long time without one.

I strolled up over the cliffs with my children, after their return from

school at noon, to gather wild flowers, it being May-day. We came in

with the spring beauty, called _miscodeed_ by the Indians, the adder's

tongue, and some wild violets.

The day being fine and the lake calm, I visited the Isle Rond--the

locality of an old and long abandoned village. On landing on the south

side, discovered the site of an ancient Indian town--an open area of

several acres, with graves and boulder grave stones. Deep paths had been

worn to the water. The graves had inclosures, more or less decayed, of

cedar and birch bark, and the whole had the appearance of having been

last occupied about seventy years ago. Yet the graves were, as usual,

east and west. I discovered near this site remains of more ancient

occupancy, in a deposit of human bones laid in a trench _north_ and

_south_. This had all the appearance of one of the antique ossuaries,

constructed by an elder race, who collected the bones of their dead

periodically. The Indians call this island _Min-nis-ais_, Little

Island. Speaking _of_ it, the local termination _ing_ is added.

During the day the old Indian prophet Chusco came in, having passed the

winter at Chingossamo's village on the Cheboigan River, accompanied by

an Indian of that village, who calls himself Yon, which is probably a

corruption of John, for he says that his father was an Englishman, and

his mother a Chippewa of St. Mary's.

Chusco and Yon concur in stating that the old town on Round Island was

Chi Naigow's, where he and Aishquonaibee's [68] father ruled. It was a

large village, occupied still while the British held old Mackinack, and

not finally abandoned until after the occupancy of the island-post. It

consisted of Chippewas. Chi Naigow afterwards went to a bay of

Boisblanc, where the public wharf now is, where he cultivated land

and died.[69]

[Footnote 68: A Chief of Grand Traverse.]

[Footnote 69: His daughter, who was most likely to know, says he died at

Manista. See prior part of Journal.]

These Indians also state, that at the existence of the town on Round

Island, a large Indian village was seated around the present harbor of

Mackinack, and the Indians cultivated gardens there. Yon says, that at

that time there was a stratum of black earth over the gravel, and that

it was not bare gravel as it is now.[70] (He is speaking of the shores of

the harbor.)

[Footnote 70: At Mackinack, they, in some places, raise potatoes in clean

gravel.]

Yon says that a man, called Sagitondowa, is now living at Chingassamo's

village, who once lived in Chi Naigow's village at Minnissais--and that

he is about his age. Yon was about seventy. He further says that the

traverse to Old Mackinack was made directly from the old town, on Round

Island, and that it was from thence they-went over to get rum.

Chusco made the following speech: "Nosa, when I first spoke to you it

was at the camp of the Strong Wind (Gen. Wayne). You then told me that I

should not be troubled with the smoke, (meaning intrusion from

settlement.) It was said to me that a place should be provided by our

Great Father for us. My home was then at Waganukizzi, the place of the

crotched tree (L'Arbre Croche).

"About twenty men had the courage to go, and united in the treaty.

Chemokoman was one of them. The old chief Niskauzhininna did not go. He

was afraid of the Americans. I carried my ancient implements, which you

know I have forever laid aside. (He was the Seer.)

"The English did not come up to their promises. The land was lost. The

posts were lost. They were all given up, and we only were the sufferers.

Hard is our fate.

"Strong Wind said to the chiefs that there should be a place for the old

and disabled, where they should have food. We were absent at this treaty

all summer. We came back late in the fall."

"Forty winters have past. I am poor and old, and cannot go about any

more. Look at me. I want a house and a shelter. Tell me, shall I

have it?" [71]

[Footnote 71: In the treaty of 28th March, 1836, a dormitory was provided

for the Indians visiting the post of Mackinack. Chusco was granted an

annuity in coin.]

_2d_. Having, on the 19th of April, called the attention of Mrs. La

Fromboise, an aged Metif lady, to the former state of things here, she

says that the post of Chicago was first established under English rule,

by a negro man named _Pointe aux Sables_, who was a respectable man.

The etymology of Chicago appears to be this:--

Chi-cag, _Animal of the Leek or Wild Onion_.

Chi-cag-o-wunz, _The Wild Leek or Pole-cat Plant_.

Chi-ca-go, _Place of the Wild Leek_.

She also says that Captain Robinson, while commanding at Mackinack,

discharged a negro servant named Bonga, who afterwards, with his wife,

purchased the house and lot in which Mr. Wendell now lives (the old red

house next Dousman's, south), where he kept a tavern, and maintained a

respectable character. He afterwards sold out and went to Detroit, and

lived with Mr. Meldrum.

She adds: "The son of this Bonga was the late Bonga, who died as a

_comme_, at Lake Winnepec, of the Fond du Lac Department. The present

Stephen Bonga of Folleavoine, a trustworthy trader, is the grandson of

this Bonga--Robinson's freed slave. His connections are Chippewas, and

all speak the Chippewa language fluently."

Having seen and known this Bonga, the grandson, I was led to remark

that climate and intermarriage have had little or no appreciable effect

on the color of the skin.

The traditions of Mr. Viancourt, one of the oldest French residents of

Point St. Ignace, who visited the office (24th April), relate that he

was born the year Montreal was taken, 1759. That Mackinack (the island)

was first occupied four years after.

He further says that Gov. Sinclair built a small fort on Black River,

and that he gave his name to that part of the straits which have since

been called St. Clair.[72] Says he has been on the island forty-seven

years, consequently came in 1788.

[Footnote 72: Consult Charlevoix's Journal. Is not so, go far as the

origin of the name is concerned.]

The late Mr. J.B. Nolin, of Sault St. Marie, remarked to John Johnson,

Esq., that Governor Sinclair came up with troops the year after the

massacre at old Mackinack; and that he landed with a broad belt of

wampum in his hands.

Aishkwagon-ai-bee, or the feather of honor, first chief of the Chippewas

of Grand Traverse Bay, Lake Michigan, says that the Nadowas (Iroquois)

formerly lived at Point St. Ignace--that they fell out with the

Chippewas and Ottawas on a certain day, at a ball-playing, when a

Chippewa was killed. Hereupon, the Chippewas and Ottawas united their

strength and drove them away, destroying their village.

The Chippewas and Ottawas then divided the land by natural boundaries.

Grand Traverse Bay fell to the Chippewas.

Another Indian tradition respecting the old village on Isle Rond, was

gleaned:--

Sagitondowa visits the office: he says he lacks one year of fifty. His

earliest recollections are of the old village on Round Island. It was

then (say 1783, the close of the American Revolutionary War) a large

village, and nearly half the island in cultivation. It was not finally

abandoned until lately.

Having his attention called to the deposit of old bones exposed by the

action of the lake, he finally said he knew not how they came there;

that they must be of ancient date, and were probably of the same era

with the bones in the caves of the island of Mackinack. He said when he

was young there was no village on that part of the bay of Mackinack

situated between the old Government house, and the present Catholic

church. This was formerly a cedar swamp. There was a village near

Porkman's (Mr. Edward Biddle's), and another near the Presbyterian

Church.

_3d_. Seed the borders around the garden lots with clover and timothy,

united with oats. Continue to plant in hot-beds, and in the ornamental

mound. The "Huron" departs up the lake, the "Austerlitz" returns.

Drove out in my carriage with Mrs. Schoolcraft and children, round the

island. I found no traces of snow or ice.

_5th_. A gale from the east, which began to show itself yesterday.

The schooner "Lady of the Lake" comes in, _without a mail_. During the

afternoon, the wind also brings in the "Marengo," with a mail, and in

the night, the "Supply."

_6th_. Wind from the S.W. and W. Rain, chilly, cloudy.

_7th_. A complete counterpart of the weather of yesterday.

_8th_. The same weather in every respect, with light snow flurries. The

last four or five days have been most disheartening weather for this

season, and retarded gardening. The leaves of the pie plant have been

partially nipped by the frost.

_9th_. Clear and pleasant--wind west. Drove out with Mrs. Schoolcraft

and children to see the arched rock, the sugar-loaf rock, Henry's cave,

and other prominent curiosities of the island. There are extensive old

fields on the eastern part of the island, to which the French apply the

term of _Grands Jardins._ No resident pretends to know their origin.

Whether due to the labors of the Hurons or the Wyandots, who are known

to have been driven by the Iroquois to this island from the St. Lawrence

valley, early in the 17th century; or to a still earlier period, when

the ancient bones were deposited in the caves, is not known. It is

certain that the extent of the fields evince an agricultural industry

which is not characteristic of the present Algonquin race. The stones

have been carefully gathered into heaps, as in the little valley near

the arched rock, to facilitate cultivation. These heaps of stones, in

various places might be mistaken for Celtic cairns.

_10th_. The schooner "Mariner," our old friend, comes into port with

forty emigrants for Chicago. During the evening the "Commerce" and

"America" join her.

_11th_. S. Cold north-west wind, gloomy and cloudy.

_12th_. A report is received that the President has communicated a

protest to the Senate on the expression of their views respecting the

removal of the deposits.

I told a party of Ottawas, who applied for food, that their Great Father

was not pleased that his bounties should be misused by their employing

them merely to further their journeys to foreign agencies, where the

counsels they got were such as he could not approve. That hereafter such

bounties must not be expected; that the poor and suffering would always

find the agency doors open, but I should be compelled to close them to

such as turned a deaf ear to his advice, if their practices in visiting

these foreign assemblies were persisted in.

_13th_. A slight snow covers the ground in the morning, it melts soon,

but the day is ungenial, with S.W. wind, and cloudy atmosphere.

_14th_. A powder of snow covers the ground in the north, the wind in the

N.W. It varies from N.W. to S.W., and by ten o'clock, A.M., it is

pleasant and clear. Plant garden corn, an early species cultivated by

the Ottawas.

_15th_. Cold and clear most of the day.

_16th_. Young Robert Gravereat first came to the office in the capacity

of interpreter. It is a calm and mild day; the sun shines out. The

thermometer stands at 50° at 8 o'clock, A.M., and the weather appears to

be settled for the season. Miss Louisa Johnston comes to pass

the summer.

_15th_. Ploughed potato land, the backward state of the season having

rendered it useless earlier. Even now the soil is cold, and requires to

lay some time after being ploughed up.

The steamer "Oliver Newberry" arrives in the afternoon, bringing Detroit

dates of May 5th, and Washington dates a week later.

The new brig "John Kinzie" enters the harbor on the 19th, bringing up

Gov. D.R. Porter, of Pennsylvania, and suit, with forty passengers.

_20th_. I may now advert to what the busy world has been about, while we

have been watching fields of floating ice, and battling it with the

elements through an entire season. A letter from E.A. Brush, Esq.,

Washington, March 13th, says: "Nothing is talked about here, as I may

well presume you know from the papers, but the deposits and their

removal, and their restoration; and that frightful mother of all

mischief, the money maker (U.S. Bank). Every morning (the morning begins

here at twelve, meridian) the Senate chamber is thronged with ladies and

feathers, and their obsequious satellites, to hear the sparring. Every

morning a speech is made upon presentation of some petition representing

that the country is overwhelmed with ruin and disasters, and that the

fact is notorious and palpable; or, that the country is highly

prosperous and flourishing, and that everybody knows it. One, that its

only safety lies in the continuance of the Bank; and the other, that our

liberties will be prostrated if it is re-chartered. Of course, the well

in which poor truth has taken refuge, in this exigency, is very deep.

"But the Senate is, at this moment, an extraordinary constellation of

talent. There is Mr. Webster, and Mr. Clay, and Mr. Calhoun, and a

no-way inferior, Mr. Preston, the famous debater in the South Carolina

troubles, and Mr. Benj. Watkins Leigh, the equally celebrated ambassador

near the government of South Carolina. All are ranged on one side, and

it is a phalanx as formidable, in point of moral force, as the

twenty-four can produce. Mr. Forsyth is the atlas upon whose shoulders

are made to rest all the sins of the administration. Every shaft flies

at him, or rather is intended for others through him; and his Ajax

shield of seven bull hides is more than once pierced, in the course of

the frequent encounters to which he is invited, and from which they will

not permit him to secede. But it is all talk. They will do nothing. A

constitutional majority in the Senate (two-thirds) is very doubtful, and

a bare one in the House, still more problematical. Of course, you are

aware that the executive has expressed its unyielding determination not

to sign a bill for the re-charter, or to permit a restoration of

the deposits.

"Houses are cracking in the cities, as if in the midst of an earthquake,

and there is hardly a man engaged in mercantile operations (I might say

not one) who will not feel the 'pressure.'"

Major W. Whiting writes from Detroit, March 28th: "I spoke of the

project of a road to Mackinack, which you wished me to bear in mind. The

Secretary approved the project, and the Quarter-Master General said it

might be done without a special appropriation. I was authorized to have

the survey made as soon as the season will permit, and an officer has

reported to me for that purpose. He will start from Saginaw some time in

the next month, to make a reconnoisance of the country, and will appear

at the head of the peninsula when perhaps you little expect such

a visitor.

"As soon as the survey shall be completed, the cutting out will be put

under contract. When this road shall be completed, you will feel more

neighborly to us. The express will be able to perform the journey in

half the time, and, of course, the trips can be multiplied."

_June 4th_. Reuben Smith, a Mission scholar of the Algonquin lineage,

determines to leave his temporary employment at the agency, and complete

his education at the eastward.

_5th_. Ossiganac, an Ottawa, who was formerly interpreter at the British

post at Drummond Island, says that Ottawa tradition points back to the

Manitouline Islands, as the place of their origin. They call those

islands Ottawa Islands, and Lake Huron Ottawa Lake. They call Lake

Superior Chippewa Lake. All the Ottawas, he says, of L'Arbre Croche,

Grand River, &c., came from the Ottawa or Manitouline Islands. The

French first found them there.[73]

[Footnote 73: This is pretty well for Indian tradition, but is not so, in

truth, as Charlevoix's Hist. of New France denotes.]

They migrated down Lake Michigan, and lived with the Potawattomies.

After awhile, the Potawattomies growing uneasy of their presence,

accused them of using bad medicine, which was the cause of their people

dying. The Ottawas replied, that if they were jealous of them, they

would retire, and they accordingly withdrew up the peninsula. While in

the course of withdrawing, one of their number was killed by the

Potawattomies.

_6th_. Ossiganac, at an interview at my house this afternoon, says that

the Ottawas of Maumee, Ohio, sent a message to the Ottawas of L'Arbre

Croche, in Governor Hull's time--consequently between 1805 and

1812--saying: "We were originally of one fire, and we wish to come back

again to you, that we may all derive heat again from the same fire."

The Ottawas of L'Arbre Croche replied: "True, but you took a coal to

warm yourselves by. Now, it will be better that you remain by your own

coal, which you saw fit long ago to take from our fire. Remain where you

are." From that day the Ottawas of Maumee have said nothing more about

joining us.

Now (1834) the Potawattomies come with a request to join our fire.

Shall we receive them, when we refused our brethren, who are more nearly

related to us? I think not.

_7th_. The Little Bear Skin, Muk-ons-e-wy-an-ais, of Manistee, inquires

respecting the truth of a rumor, that the Potawattomies, since selling

their lands at Chicago, are coming to the North, amongst the Ottawas and

Chippewas. He deprecates such a movement. Says the habits of the

Potawattomies are so different that they would not be satisfied were

they to come. Their horses are their canoes. They know nothing of

traveling by water; beyond shore navigation. They are sea-sick on

the lakes.

Little Bear Skin says he lives on the first forks of the Manistee.

Although a Chippewa, he is in the habit of cultivating gardens. He is

originally, by his parents, from the North--is related to the St. Mary's

and Taquimenon Indians. He himself was born on the Manistee. He is a

temperance man.

Cherry trees in full bloom. The steamer "Uncle Sam" enters the harbor,

being the first of a line established to Chicago.

_9th_. Apple and plum trees pretty full in flower.

_10th_. Mrs. Robert Stuart makes a handsome present of conchological

species from foreign localities to be added to my cabinet.

_15th_. Major Whistler interdicts preaching in the fort. Mr. B. Stuart,

having returned recently from the East, resumes the superintendence of

the Sabbath School at the Mission, from which I had relieved him in

the autumn.

I have written these sketches for my own satisfaction and the

refreshment of my memory, in the leading scenes and events of my first

winter on the island, giving prominence to the state and changes of the

weather, the occurrences among the natives, and the moral, social, and

domestic events around me. But the curtain of the world's great drama is

now fully raised, by our free commercial and postal union with the

region below us; new scenes and topics daily occur, which it would be

impossible to note if I tried, and which would be useless if possible.

Hereafter my notices must be of isolated things, and may be "few and

far between."

CHAPTER LI.

Trip to Detroit--American Fur Company; its history and

organization--American Lyceum; its objects--Desire to write books on

Indian subjects by persons not having the information to render them

valuable--Reappearance of cholera--Mission of Mackinack; its history and

condition--Visit of a Russian officer of the Imperial Guards--Chicago;

its prime position for a great _entrepôt_--Area and destiny of the

Mississippi Valley.

1834. About the first of July, I embarked for Detroit, for the purpose

chiefly of meeting the Secretary of War, during his summer refuge from

the busy scenes at Washington. There were some questions to be decided

important to my duties at Mackinack and St. Mary's, arising from recent

changes in the laws or regulations. He wrote to me on the 21st of July,

from the White Sulphur Springs, in Virginia, that he should probably

reach Detroit before the 10th or 12th of August; but his delay had been

protracted so much, that after reaching the city I felt compelled to

return to my agency without seeing him.

One reason for this step, which operated upon my mind, was the change in

the partnership and management of the affairs of the American Fur

Company, consequent on Mr. John Jacob Astor's withdrawal from it. This

company was founded by this noted and successful merchant's having

purchased, at the close of the war, about 1815, the trading posts,

consisting of buildings, property, &c., of the British North-West

Company, who had been so long the commercial, and to all practical

intents, the political lords of the regions of the north-west. He

organized the concern in shares, under an act of incorporation of the

Legislature of New York, and began operations by establishing his

central point of interior action at Michilimackinack. This was in 1816.

From data submitted at a treaty at Prairie du Chien by Mr. R. Stuart,

the whole capital invested in the business, was not less than 300,000

dollars. The interior sub-posts were spread over the entire area of the

frontiers up to the parallel of 59° north latitude, extending to the

Missouri. Together with the posts, indeed, the North-West Company turned

over, in effect, some of its agents and the principal part of its

clerks, interpreters, and boatmen for this area, who were, I believe,

without a single exception, foreigners, chiefly Canadian French,

Scotchmen, Irishmen, and perhaps a few Englishmen.

Congress passed an act the same year (1816) providing that this trade

should be carried on under licenses, by American citizens, who were

permitted, however, to employ this class of foreigners, by entering into

bonds for their proper conduct. This created a class of duties for the

agents, on the line of the Canada frontiers, which was at all times

onerous. To carry on the trade at all, the old and experienced "servants

of the N.W.," as they were called, were necessary, and it was sometimes

essential to take out the license in the names of American boys, or

persons by no means competent, by their experience in this trade, to

conduct the business, which was, in fact, still in the hands of the old

employees.

It was a false theory, from the start, that ardent spirits was one of

the articles necessary to trade. Congress entertained an opinion of its

injuriousness to the character of the Indians, and passed laws excluding

it. This constituted another class of duties of the agents who were

entrusted with their execution, and required them to "search packages,"

and to judge of the probabilities of all persons applying for licenses

keeping the laws.

To expect that this mixed body of foreigners would exert any very

favorable political influence on the mass of Indian minds in the

north-west, was indulging a hope not very likely to be fulfilled. They

were employed to glean the Indian lodges of furs, and expected to make

good returns to their employers at Michilimackinack; and, if they kept

the ground of neutrality with respect to governments, it was considered

as exempting them from censure.

The great body of the Indians in the upper lakes, and throughout the

north-west, extending to the sources of the Mississippi, were averse to

the American rule. Many of them had been embodied to fight against the

Americans, who were successively met by ambuscade, surprise, or

otherwise, as at Chicago, at Michilimackinack, Brownstown, River Raisin,

Maumee, Fort Harrison, and other places. They had been assembled in

large bodies, by the delusive prophesyings of Elksatawa, and by the not

less delusive promises of the agents of the British Indian Department,

on the lines, that the Americans were to be driven back to the line of

the Illinois, if not of the Ohio--an old and very popular idea with the

lake Indians from early days.

The lake Indians had suffered severely from the war, chiefly from the

camp fevers and irregularities. They had finally been defeated--their

great war captain killed, their false prophet driven from the Wabash

into Canada; and, to crown the whole, were themselves abandoned, one and

all, by their allies, at the treaty of Ghent. Many never returned to the

homes of their fathers--entire villages were depopulated, and their

sites overgrown in a few years with shrubbery. Those who came back from

the active campaign of 1814, were sullen and desponding. As an evidence

of what they had suffered, and how completely they had been abandoned by

their allies, the transactions of the first treaty at Springwells, at

the close of the war, may be referred to. The tribes were literally

starving and in rags.

The agents of the Executive and Governors, who were appointed to conduct

their intercourse after the war, were, in reality, called to execute a

high class of diplomatic functions, second only in general importance to

those required at the prime courts of Europe. The several classes of

duties which have been described denote, to some extent, in what this

importance consisted. Eighteen years had now elapsed since this

important commercial company had furnished traders to the discomfited

tribes. During twelve years of this period I had had charge of the

intercourse with by far the largest and most unfriendly and warlike of

the tribes; and, when I saw that Mr. Astor had disconnected himself from

the concern which he had organized; and that, to some extent, new agents

and actors were called to the field, I felt anxious to be at my post, to

supervise, personally, the intercourse act, and to see that no improper

persons should enter the country.

_15th_. Dr. L.D. Gale, of New York, writes me that the American Lyceum

has resolved to enlarge the scope of its objects. "We have, therefore,"

he remarks, "as we now stand, 1. The department of education. 2. The

department of physical science. 3. Moral and political science. 4.

Literature and the arts. The influence of the society has been very much

enlarged since its last meeting, and it now enrolls amongst its active

members many, indeed I may say a large share of the most valuable men of

science of the United States. The chief object of the physical science

department is to obtain, as far as possible, a report of the recent

history and progress, and, in some cases, the future prospects of the

different departments. So that we may be enabled to form a volume of

transactions that shall embrace all that is new or recent in the

departments, posted up to the present time.

"The subject of the antiquities of the western countries of the United

States, and especially the remains of towns and fortifications, which

appear to have been built by a civilized population, has been frequently

agitated this side of the Alleghanies, and it was thought by the

executive committee that justice would be done to the subject in your

hands. They have, accordingly, requested that you would consent to give

them a paper on the subject. They presumed that you were in possession

of much interesting and valuable matter that has never yet come to the

eyes of the world."

_26th_. I have been often written to, by persons at a distance wishing

for information on the Indian tribes, or their languages, or

antiquities, and uniformly responded favorably to such applications,

sending a little where it was not practicable to do more. It has ever

appeared to me, that the giving of information was just one of those

points which rendered me not a whit more ignorant myself, and might add

something to the knowledge, as it certainly would to the gratifications

of others. The only good objection is, that time and attention is

required for every such effort. But cannot this be easily redeemed from

waste hours, when the object is to add to the moral gratifications

of others?

A letter was addressed to me, this day, from a Mr. H. Newcomb,

Alleghany, near Pittsburg, which certainly seems a little onerous in the

tax it imposes on my time; as the writer announces his intention of

publishing two or three volumes, on the subject of the Indians, and

presents a formidable array of subjects respecting which he is to treat.

In only one respect it strikes me as singular, namely, that any writer

west of the Alleghanies should set down to write a work on such a

subject, without personal observation. In older areas, where the Indian

has disappeared, books must alone be relied on; but in the West, there

should be something fresh, something distinctive and personal, to give

vitality to such a work. The writer observes, "I have not yet been able

to obtain materials for the first two volumes satisfactory to myself."

_August 1st_. Mr. Theodore Dwight, Jr., writes: "Cannot a syllabic, or

semi-syllabic alphabet, be applied to our Indian tongues?"

Rev. Leonard Woods, Jr., of New York, Editor of the New York Theological

Review, desires a paper on the subject of the American Indians. "I have

found," he says, "that while the subject is one of very general

interest, there are few who possess the requisite information to do

it justice."

_15th_. The cholera, which first appeared in this country in 1833, made

its second appearance in Detroit, in the month of July. It was not,

however, of the same virulence as the first attack. "From present

appearances," writes a friend at that place, "the cholera is vanishing."

Having matters of eminent concern there, I determined to make a brief

visit to the place. My health was very good, and had never, indeed, been

subject to violent fluctuations of the digestive functions, and, after

attaining the object, I returned to Mackinack. I again visited Detroit

for a short time, during the latter part of August, and resumed my

position at Mackinack in September. Indian affairs, in the upper lakes,

were now hastening to a crisis, which in a year or two, developed

themselves in extensive sales of territory by the Indians, who, as game

failed, saw themselves in straits. These events will be mentioned as

they take definite shapes of action.