Description of the descent from Pine River--Pine tracts--Confluence of
the Crow-wing River--Enter a sylvan region--prairies and groves,
occupied by deer, elk, and buffalo--Sport of buffalo
hunting--Reach elevations of sienitic and metamorphic
rocks--Discover a pictographic inscription of the Sioux, by which
they denote a desire for peace--Pass the Osaukes, St. Francis's,
Corneille, and Rum Rivers--St. Anthony's Falls--Etymology of the
name--Geographical considerations.
The night dew was heavy on this elevation, and a dense fog prevailed at
the hour of our embarkation (5 o'clock A. M., on the 27th). The pine
lands come in with the valley of Pine River, a large and important
stream tributary from the west, which has a connection with Leech Lake.
These lands characterize both banks of the Mississippi to the entrance
of the River De Corbeau. We were seven hours, with a strong current, in
passing through this tract. It is to be observed that ancient fires have
been permitted to run through these forests, destroying immense
quantities of the timber. It was twelve o'clock, A. M., when we came
opposite to the entrance of the great Crow-wing River.[82] This stream,
which has a large island in its mouth, is a prime tributary with a
large, full-flowing current, and must bring in one-third of the entire
volume of water to this point.[83] Such is the effect of this current on
the opposite shore, that, at the distance of a couple of leagues below,
at a spot called _Prairie Perciê_ by the French, it appears to have
forced its way headlong, till, meeting obstructions from the primary
rocks, it was again deflected south. At this point, the whole face of
the country has an exceedingly sylvan aspect. It is made up of
far-stretching plains, covered with grass and wild flowers, interspersed
with groves of oak, maple, and other species. The elevation of these
beautiful plains, above the river, is not less than twenty to thirty
feet, placing them above the reach of high waters. We were now passing
below the latitude of 46°. Everything indicated a climate favorable to
the vegetable kingdom. While passing in the valley, through the fine
bends which the river makes, through these plains, we came to a
hunting-camp of probably one hundred and fifty Indians. They were
Chippewas, who, on landing at their camp, saluted us in the Indian
fashion, and were happy to exchange some dried buffalo meat and
pemmican, for corn and flour. Some miles below we observed several
buffalo, on the eastern shore, on the sub-plains below the open bluffs.
Alarmed by our approach, these animals set out, with a clumsy, shambling
trot, for the upper plains. Clumsy as their gait seemed, they got over
the ground with speed. Our whole force was immediately landed, a little
below, and we eagerly climbed the banks, to engage in the sport of
hunting them. Quite a large drove of this animal was seen on the
prairie. Our best marksmen, and the Indians, immediately divided
themselves, to approach on different sides the herd. Cautiously
approaching, they fired; the effect was to alarm and divide them. Most
of the herd pushed directly to the spot on the banks of the river, where
the non-combatants of the party stood; and there arose a general firing,
and _mêlée_ of men and buffaloes, which made it quite doubtful, for
awhile, who stood in greatest danger of being hit by the bullets, the
men or animals. I am certain the bullets whizzed about the position I
occupied on the top of the alluvial cliffs. None of the herd were,
however, slain at that time; but at our encampment, a short distance
below, the flesh of both the buffalo and elk was profusely brought in by
the Indians. It is stated that this animal lifts both the feet on one
side, at the same time; but this remark, I presume, arises from a mode
of throwing its feet forward, which is decidedly different from other
quadrupeds.
[82] CROW-WING RIVER.--In returning from Itasca Lake, in 1832, I
passed from Leech Lake by a series of old Indian portages into Lake
Ka-ge-no-ge-maug, or Long Water Lake, which is its source; and from
thence descended it to its entrance into the Mississippi.--Vide _Exp.
to Itasca Lake_. N. Y., Harpers, 1834: vol. i. 8vo. with maps.
[83] The Indian name of this river is Kagiwegwon, or Raven's-wing, or
Quill, which is accurately translated by the term _Aile de Corbeau_,
but it is improperly called Crow-Wing. The Chippewa term for crow is
_andaig_, and the French, _corneille_--terms which are appropriately
applied to another stream, nearer St. Anthony's Falls.
On descending the river two miles, the next morning, we found ourselves
opposite the mouth of Elk River, a stream coming in from the west. This
point has been determined to be but four minutes north of latitude 46°
[_Sen. Doc._ 237]. A short distance below the river, we passed, on the
west shore, the Painted Rock, an isolated or boulder mass, having Indian
devices, which we had no opportunity of examining. We were now passing
down a channel of manifestly increased velocity, and at the distance of
a couple of miles more, found ourselves hurried through the west channel
of the Little Falls. At this point the primitive or basis stratification
over which we had been so long gliding, crosses the river, rising up and
dividing it, by an abrupt rocky island, into two channels. The breadth
of the stream is much compressed, and the velocity of its current
increased. By what propriety of language it is called "falls" did not,
however, appear; perhaps there are seasons when the descent assumes a
greater degree of disturbance and velocity. To us, it appeared to be
about ten feet in a hundred and fifty yards. Here, then, in N. lat. 46°,
the Mississippi is first visibly crossed by the primary series of rocks.
Being now in the region of buffalo, it was decided to land in the course
of the day, for the purpose of entering into the chase. An occasion for
this was presented soon after passing the Little Falls, by observing one
of these animals on shore. On landing, and reaching the elevation of the
prairies, two herds of them were discovered at a distance. An attack on
them was immediately planned, for which the tall grass and gentle
inequalities of surface, appeared favorable. The fire proved
unsuccessful, but served to distract the herds, giving scope for
individual marksmanship and hunter activity, during which, innumerable
shots were fired, and three animals killed. While this scene was
passing, I had a good stand for witnessing the sport, some of the herd
passing by very near, as with the blindness of fury. The bison is
certainly an animal as clumsy as the ox, or domestic cow; but, unlike
these, it is of a uniform dun color, and ever without being spotted, or
mottled. Its horns are nearly straight, short, very black, and set wide
apart. The male is formidable in look, and ferocious when wounded. Its
ordinary weight is eight hundred to a thousand pounds.
It may be said, in reference to this animal being found in this region,
that it is a kind of neutral ground, between the Chippewas and Sioux,
neither of which tribes permanently occupy the country between the mouth
of the Raven's-wing and Rum Rivers.[84]
[84] The Chippewas affirm that this was the last time the buffalo
crossed the Mississippi eastwardly. It did not appear, in the same
region, in 1821.
Having spent several hours in the chase, we again embarked, and
proceeded down the river until three o'clock in the afternoon. On the
left bank of the river two prominent elevations of the granitical
series, rising through the prairie soil, attracted my attention.
Immediately below this locality, a high and level prairie stretches on
the west shore, which had a striking appearance from its being crowned
with the poles and fixtures of a large, recently abandoned Sioux
encampment. At this spot the expedition landed and encamped. The quick
glances of Babasikundiba and his party of delegates immediately
discovered a pole, at the site of the chief's lodge, bearing a birch
bark scroll, or letter, inscribed with Indian hieroglyphics, or devices.
It turned out that this spot was the northern terminus of a Sioux peace
embassage, dispatched from St. Peter's shortly previous, under the
direction of Col. H. Leavenworth, U. S. A., the newly-arrived commanding
officer at that post. The message was eagerly received and read by the
Chippewa delegates. By it they were informed that the Sioux also desired
a termination of hostilities. The scroll was executed by tracing lines,
with the point of a knife, or some sharp instrument. The pictographic
devices thus drawn denoted the exact number of the party, their chiefs,
and the authority under which these crude negotiations were commenced.
Of this mode of communicating ideas among the Algonquin tribes, we have
before given details in crossing the boggy plateau of Akik Sepi, between
the St. Louis River and Sandy Lake. The present instance of it is
commented on in an interesting communication of the era, in the
appendix, from the pen of Gov. Cass. It was now no longer doubtful that
the Chippewa mission would be successful, and the satisfaction it
produced was evident in the countenances and expressions of
Babasikundiba and his colleagues.
I took a canoe and crossed the Mississippi, to inspect the geology of
the opposite shore. On reaching the summit of the rock formations
rising through the prairies, which had attracted my notice from the
river, I found them to consist of sienite, which was almost exclusively
made up of a trinary compound of white quartz, hornblende, and
feldspar--the two former species predominating. The feldspar exhibited
its splendent black crystals in fine relief in the massy quartz. This
formation extended a mile or more. What excited marked attention, in
surveying these rocks, was their smoothly rubbed surfaces, which seemed
as if they must have been produced by equally hard and heavy masses of
rock, driven over them from the north. I registered this locality, in my
Geological Journal, as the Peace Rock, in allusion to the purport of the
Indian mission, evidences of which were found at the opposite
encampment.[85]
[85] In the treaty of Indian boundaries of Prairie du Chien, of 1825,
this mission of the Sioux became a point of reference by the Sioux
chiefs Wabishaw, Petite Corbeau, and Wanita, as denoting the limit of
their excursions north. The Chippewas, on the contrary, by the mouths
of Babasikundiba, Kadawabeda, and the Broken Arm of Sandy Lake,
contended for Sac River as the line. I discussed this subject, having
Indian maps, at length, with the chiefs and Mr. Taliaferro, the Sioux
agent, of St. Peter's. An intermediate stream, the Watab River, was
eventually fixed on, as the separating boundary between these two
warlike tribes.--_Indian Treaties_; Washington, D. C. 1837. Vol. i.
8vo. p. 370.
During our night's encampment at this spot we heard the howling of a
pack of wolves, on the opposite bank--a sure indication, hunters say,
that there are deer, or objects of prey in the vicinity. There are two
species of wolves on the plains of the Mississippi--the canis lupus, and
the animal called coyote by the Spanish. The latter is smaller, of a
dingy yellow color, and bears the generic name of prairie wolf. I have
also seen a black wolf on the prairies of Missouri and Arkansas, three
feet nine inches long, with coarse, bristly, bear-like hair. As daylight
approached, our ears were saluted with the hollow cry of the strix
nictea, a species which is asserted to be found, sometimes, as far south
as the Falls of St. Anthony.
On embarking, at an early hour, we found the humidity of the night
atmosphere to be such, that articles left exposed to it were completely
saturated. Yet, the temperature stood at 50° at half-past four o'clock,
the moment of our embarkation. On descending six miles we passed the
mouth of the Osakis, or Sac River, a considerable tributary from the
west, which opens a line of communication with the Red River valley.
About ten o'clock we encountered a series of rapids extending some eight
hundred or a thousand yards, in the course of which the river has a
probable aggregate fall of sixteen feet. These rapids bear the
malappropriate title of the Big Falls. Following these, were a series
called Prairie Rapids. At half-past four we passed the entrance of the
River St. Francis, a considerable stream on the left bank. At this spot,
Hennepin terminated his voyage in 1681, and Carver in 1766. There is an
island at the point of confluence. At six o'clock we passed the entrance
on the west shore of the stream called _Corneille_, by the French, which
is the true interpretation of the Sioux name _Karishon_, and the
Chippewa term _Andaig_, which mean the crow, and not the raven. We
encamped five miles below, on the east bank, having been thirteen hours
in our canoes, with a generally strong current. My mineralogical
gleanings, during the day, had given some specimens of the interesting
varieties of the quartz family, for which the geological drift is noted,
and a single piece of agatized wood. The geological floor on which the
river runs, has been indicated.
At five o'clock the following morning (30th) we resumed the descent, and
at the distance of two leagues reached the entrance of the
Missisagiegon, or Rum River. It is Carver, I believe, who first gives us
this name, for a stream which the Indians describe as a river flowing
from a lake of lakes--a term, by the way, which the French, with their
usual adherence to Indian etymology, have called _Mille Lacs_. The term
_missi_, in this word, does not signify great, but a collected mass, or
all kinds, and sometimes everywhere--the allusion being to water.
_Sa-gi-e-gon_ is a lake, and when the prefixed term _missi_, is put to
it, nothing could more graphically describe the large body of water,
interspersed with islands, which give a confused aspect, from which the
river issues. The Dacotas call this lake _Mini Wakan_, meaning
Spirit-water, which is probably the origin of the name of Rum River.
About thirteen miles below Rum River, and when within half a mile of the
Falls,[86] I observed calcareous rocks in horizontal beds, on the left
bank of the river. It was now evident we had passed out of the primitive
range of deposits, and had entered that of the great sedimentary
horizontal and semi-crystalline or silurian system of the Mississippi
Valley; and descending with a strong current, we came, rather suddenly,
it appeared, to the Falls of St. Anthony, where the river drops, by a
cascade, into a rock-bordered valley. Surprise and admiration were the
first emotions on getting out of our canoes and gazing on this
superlative scene; and we were not a little struck with the idea that
the Sioux had named the Falls from manifestly similar impressions,
calling it Rara, from the Dacota verb _irara_, to laugh. By another
authority, the word is written _Ha Ha_, or _Dhaha_, the letters _h_ in
the word representing a strong guttural sound resembling the old Arabic
r.[87] (S. R. Riggs's _Dakota Dict. and Gram._) Nothing can exceed the
sylvan beauty of the country which is here thrown before the eye; and we
should not feel surprised that the Aboriginal mind has fallen on very
nearly identical sounds with the English, to express its impressions. A
not very dissimilar principle has been observed by the Chippewas, who
have a uniform termination of their names in _ish_, which signifies the
very same quality which we express by ish in whitish, blackish,
saltish--meaning a lesser, or defective quality of the noun.
[86] It is recently asserted that this change in the stratification
occurs about a mile above the Falls. [_Sen. Doc._ p. 237.] By the
same authority it is shown that the aggregate fall of the Mississippi
from the mouth of Sandy Lake River to the Falls of St. Anthony is 397
feet.
[87] Both words are derived from the verb _to laugh_.
The popular name of these Falls, it is known, is due to Father Louis
Hennepin, a missionary who accompanied La Salle to the Illinois, in
1679, and was carried captive into the country of the Issati, a Dacota
tribe, in 1680. Lt. Pike states the portage to be two hundred and sixty
poles. By the time we had taken a good view of the position, and made a
few sketches, the men had completed carrying over our baggage and
canoes. It was now one o'clock, when we embarked to proceed to the
newly-established military encampment, a few miles below. It was a
noticeable feature, in our descent of the river above the Falls, that
Babasikundiba had always kept behind the flotilla of canoes; but the
moment we advanced below the Falls, he shot ahead with his delegates,
each one being dressed out in his best manner. His canoe had its little
flag displayed--the Indian drum was soon heard sending its measured
thumps and murmurs of vocal accompaniment over the water, and ever and
anon guns were fired. All this was done that the enemy might be apprised
of the approach of the delegation in the boldest and most open manner.
It was eight or nine miles to the post, near the influx of the St.
Peter's, and long before we reached Col. Leavenworth's camp, which
occupied a high bluff, the attention of the Sioux was arrested by their
advance, and it was inferable from the friendly answering shouts which
they gave, that the mission was received with joy. Although we had known
nothing of the movement which produced the pictographic letter found on
a pole at the Petite Roche, above Sac River, it was, in fact, regarded
by the Dacotas as an answer to that letter. And the Chippewa chief, and
his followers, were received with a salute by the Sioux, by whom they
were taken by the hand, individually, as they landed.
Col. Leavenworth, the commanding officer, received the expedition in the
most cordial manner, and assigned quarters for the members. Gov. Cass
was received with a salute due to his rank. We learn that the post was
established last fall. Orders for this purpose were issued, as will be
seen by reference to the _Preliminary Documents_, p. 35, early in the
spring. The troops destined for this purpose, were placed under the
orders of Col. Leavenworth, who had distinguished himself as the
commander of the ninth and twenty-second regiments, in the war of 1812.
They left Detroit in the spring (1819), and proceeding by the way of
Green Bay and Prairie du Chien, where garrisons were left, they ascended
to the mouth of the St. Peter's, in season to erect cantonments before
winter. The site chosen, being on the alluvial grounds, proved
unhealthy, in consequence of which the cantonment was removed, in the
spring of 1820, to an eminence and spring on the west bank of the
Mississippi, about a mile from the former position.