Position of the military post established at the mouth of
the St. Peter's--Beauty, salubrity, and fertility of
the country--Pictographic letter--Indian treaty--The
appearance of the offer of frankincense in the burning of
tobacco--Opwagonite--native pigments--Salt; native copper--The
pouched or prairie rat--Minnesota squirrel--Etymology of the
Indian name of St. Peter's River--Antiquities--Sketch of the
Dacota--Descent of the Mississippi to Little Crow's village--Feast
of green corn.
In favor of the soil and climate, and of the salubrity of the position,
the officers speak in terms of the highest admiration. The garrison has
directed its attention to both horticulture and agriculture. About
ninety acres of the choicest bottom land along the St. Peter's Valley,
and the adjacent prairies, have been planted with Indian corn and
potatoes, cereal grains, and esculents, inclusive of a hospital, a
regimental, and private gardens. At the mess-table of Col. Leavenworth,
and in our camp, we were presented with green corn in the ear, peas,
beans, cucumbers, beets, radishes, and lettuce. The earliest garden peas
were eaten here on the 15th of June, and the first green corn on the
20th July. Much of the corn is already too hard for the table, and some
of the ears can be selected which are ripe enough for seed corn. Wheat,
on the prairie lands, is found to be entirely ripe, and melons in the
military gardens nearly so. These are the best practical commentaries on
the soil and climate.[88]
[88] This is now (1854) the central area of Minnesota Territory--a
territory in a rapid process of the development of the population and
resources of a State.
The distance of the St. Peter's from the Gulf of Mexico is estimated to
be about two thousand two hundred miles. Its position above St. Louis is
estimated at nine hundred miles. Its elevation above the Gulf is but 744
feet. The precise latitude of this point is 44° 52´ 46´´.[89] The
atmosphere is represented as serene and transparent during the summer
and spring seasons, and free from the humidity which is so objectionable
a trait of our eastern latitudes. The mean temperature is 45°.[90] Its
geology and mineralogy will be noticed in my official reports. It will
be sufficient here to say that the stratification, at and below St.
Anthony's Falls, consists wholly of formations of sandstones and
limestones, horizontally deposited, whose relative positions and ages
are chiefly inferable from the evidences of organic life, in the shape
of petrifactions, which they embrace. The lowest of this series of rocks
is a white sandstone, consisting of transparent, loosely cohering
grains, special allusion to which is made by Carver, in his travels in
1766, and which may be received as testimony, were there no other, that
this too much discredited author had actually visited this region.
[89] Ex. Doc., No. 237.
[90] Army Register.
I have mentioned the interest excited by our Chippewas finding the bark
letter, or pictographic memorial at the deserted Sioux encampment above
Sac River. It turned out, as we were informed, that this Aboriginal
missive was a reply to a similar proposition transmitted from Sandy
Lake, by the Chippewas. The very person, indeed, who inscribed the
Chippewa bark message, was one of the ten persons who had accompanied us
from that lake. Gov. Cass, on learning this fact, requested him to draw
a duplicate of it on a roll of bark. He executed this task immediately.
We thus had before us the proposition in this symbolic character, which
is called _ke ke win_ by the Chippewas, and its answer. By this mode of
communication two nations of the most diverse language found no
difficulty in understanding each other.[91]
[91] _Vide_ Appendix, for a letter from Gen. Cass to the Secretary of
War on this curious topic.
On the second day after our arrival, the Indians consummated their
intentions, as signified by the bark letter, and the Sandy-Lake
delegation assembled with the Sioux at the old quarters of the military,
now occupied as an Indian agency, and smoked the pipe of peace. There
were present at this pacification, besides the chiefs Shacopee and
Babasikundiba, and minor chieftains, His Excellency Gov. Cass, Col.
Leavenworth, and sundry officers of the garrison and the expedition.
The ceremonies were conducted under the auspices of the U. S. Indian
Agent, Mr. Taliaferro. Every attention was given to make these
ceremonies impressive, by a compliance with the Aboriginal customs on
these occasions, and it is hoped not without leaving permanent effects
on their minds.
The pipe employed by the native diplomatists, in these negotiations, is
invested with a symbolic and sacred character, as if the fumes of the
weed were offered, in the nature of frankincense, to the Deity. The
genuflections with which it is presented, more than the words expressed,
countenance this idea. The bowl of the pipe used on this occasion
consisted of the well-known red pipe-stone, called opwagonite,[92] so
long known in Indian history as being brought from the _Coteau des
Prairies_. It is furnished with a wooden stem two or three feet long,
and two and a half inches broad, shaved down thin so as to resemble a
spatula. It is then painted with certain blue or green clays, and
ornamented with braids of richly dyed porcupine quills, or the holcus
fragrans, and the tuft feathers of the male duck or red-headed
woodpecker. These state pipes are usually presented by the speakers as
memorials of the speeches, and laid aside by the officials having charge
of Indian affairs. Col. Leavenworth presented us with some of these
carefully ornamented diplomatic testimonials.
[92] Schoolcraft's View of the Lead Mines of Missouri. Scenes and
Adventures in the Ozark Mountains, the Catlinite of Dr. Jackson.
I obtained from the Sioux some very carefully moulded pyramidal-shaped
pieces of the blue and green clays from the valley of the St. Peter's,
which they employ in painting their pipe-stems and persons. The coloring
matter of these appears to be carbonate of copper. It is brought from
the Blue Earth River. I also obtained from the Indians very small and
carefully tied leathern bags of the red oxide of iron, which they obtain
in the state of a dry, powdery mass, on the prairies near the Big Stone.
The Indians brought me, from the same region, crystals of salt, scraped
up from the margin of certain waters on the prairies, of a dark cast,
mixed with impurities. The tendency of these crystals to assume a cubic
form was quite distinct. The most interesting development, in the
mineralogical way, consisted of small lumps of native copper, which I
obtained on an eminence on the banks of the Mississippi, directly
opposite the influx of the St. Peter's. They occupy, geologically, a
diluvial position, being at the bottom of the prairie-drift stratum, and
immediately above the superior limestone.
In the luxurious kitchen gardens of Camp Leavenworth, great depredations
have been made by a small quadruped of a burrowing character, called
gopher. By patient watching, gun in hand, one of these was killed, and
its skin preserved and prepared. The animal is ten inches long to the
termination of the tail, with a body very much the size and color of a
large wharf-rat. It has five prominent claws, and two broad cutting
teeth, but its most striking peculiarity is a duplicature of the cheek,
which permits it to carry earth to the mouth of its burrow. It has been
called the pouched rat. Sir Francis Drake found a similar animal in his
visit to the Gulf of California, in 1587. The distribution of this
species, of which this seems to be the northern limit, is very wide
through Atlantic America, and it is known to be destructive to
vegetation throughout Alabama, Georgia, and the Carolinas. I had, two
years ago, been led to notice its ravages in Missouri and Arkansas. But
the animal called gopher, in the southern country, is a burrowing
tortoise, and the name is improperly applied to this species, which is
the _Pseudostoma pinetorum_.
A peculiar species of squirrel was observed in this vicinity, which is
also found to be a destructive visitor to the military gardens. In
appearance, this species resembles the common striped squirrel, but it
has a more elongated body, and shorter legs. The body has six black
stripes, with the same number of intervening lines of spots, on a
reddish-brown skin. This Minnesota squirrel has, since the return of the
Expedition, been named, by the late Dr. Samuel L. Mitchell, _sciurus
tredeceum_.
The River St. Peter's is called, by the Dacotas, _Watepa Minnesota_. The
prefixed term _watepa_, is their word for river; _minni_ is the name for
water. The term _sota_ has been variously explained. The Canadian
French, who have proved themselves most apt translators of Indian
phrases, render it by the word _brouille_, or _blear_; or, if we regard
this as derivative from the verb _brouiller_, _mixed_, or _mottled_--a
condition of the waters of this river, whenever the Mississippi is in
flood, and consequently at a higher elevation when it rushes into the
mouth of the St. Peter's, producing that addled aspect of the water, to
which the Dacotas, it is believed, apply the term _sota_.
The scenery around St. Peter's is of the most sylvan and delightful
character. About six miles west of the cantonment there are several
beautiful lakes, in the prairies. The largest of these is about four
miles in circumference, and is called Calhoun Lake, in compliment to the
Secretary of War. Its waters are stored with bass and other varieties of
fish. There are several pure springs of sparkling water, issuing from
the picturesque cliffs which face the Mississippi at this place. I
visited one about a mile from the cantonment, which deposits a yellow
sulphurous flocculent mass along its course. On the prairies is found
the _holcus fragrans_, which is braided by the Indian females, and
employed in some instances to decorate their deer-skin clothing. This
aromatic grass retains its scent in the dried state. Along the waters of
the St. Peter's is found the _acer negundo_, the inner bark of which,
mixed with the common nettle, is employed by the natives in the state of
a strong decoction, as a cure for the _lues venerea_.
Mr. Carver having described certain antiquities near the foot of Lake
Pepin, in 1766, inquiries were made after objects of this kind in the
vicinity. I was informed that traces of such remains existed in the
valley of the St. Peter's, but can say nothing concerning them from
actual inspection.[93]
[93] The last known platform mound in the spread of the
mound-builders north, is at Prairie du Chien. The monuments, supposed
to be mounds, in the St. Peter's region, are found by Mr. Owen to be
geological elevations. The remains on Blue Earth River are attributed
to a fort or inclosure built by Le Seur, in his search for copper on
that stream, in 1700. Other remains, in the St. Peter's valley,
appear to be old trading-houses, fallen in.
Of the Dacotas, or Sioux, for which St. Peter's forms the central point,
some anecdotes have been related which denote that they are, on certain
occasions, actuated by exalted motives. It is related that the chief
Little Crow, going out to the confines of the Chippewa Territory, to
examine his beaver-traps, discovered an individual of that tribe in the
act of taking a beaver from the trap. As he was himself unperceived, the
tribes being at war, and the offence an extreme one, a summary
punishment would have been justified by Indian law. But the Sioux chief
decided differently: "Take no alarm," said he, approaching the offender:
"I come to present you the trap, of which I see you stand in need. Take
my gun, also, as I see you have none of your own, and return to the
land of your countrymen; and linger not here, lest some of my young men
should discover your footsteps."
A still more striking and characteristic incident is related of a chief
called the Red Thunder. Col. Wm. Dixon, a Scotchman of family, who made
his influence felt in the late war of 1812 as a leader of the Sioux and
a merchant among them, married the sister of this notable chief. So
daring were the acts of Red Thunder, that he had put the Chippewa nation
in awe of him. At length, however, after a long series of the bravest
acts, he was taken prisoner, with a favorite dog, and condemned to
expiate his offences at the stake. It was a time of want by his captors.
One day he said to them: "Why do you not feed my dog?" They replied,
"feed him yourself." "Then," he said, "give me a knife." This being
thrown to him, he cut a piece of flesh from one of his large and fleshy
thighs, and threw it to the dog. Admiration of this act ran through the
Indian camp. They immediately released him, and bestowed on him the
highest attentions and honors.
The Dacota or Sioux nation constitute one of the families of America who
speak a peculiar language. Lieut. Pike, who visited them in 1806,
estimated their numerical strength at twenty-one thousand six hundred
and seventy-five; of which number he computed three thousand eight
hundred to be warriors. They consist of six or seven independent tribes,
or sub-tribes, bearing different names, who occupy most of the country
between the Mississippi and Missouri, between N. latitude 43° and 46°.
The Mendawekantoñs are located on the Mississippi, below the Falls of
St. Anthony and the mouth of the St. Peter's. The Sessitoñs and Yanktoñs
occupy the upper waters of the St. Peter's. The Titoñs only extend west
of the Missouri. The several tribes regard themselves as a confederacy,
which is the signification of the term Dacota. They do not acknowledge
the name of Sioux as an Indian word. We first hear of them from the
early French missionaries, who visited the head of Lake Superior about
the middle of the 17th century, under the name of _Nadowasie_.[94] They
speak a language which prevails over an immense area, which is now
occupied by the prairie tribes towards the west and southwest, from
whence, it is inferred, they came. They appear, at a former time, to
have reached and dwelt at the sources of the Mississippi, and to have
approached, if not reached, the west end of Lake Superior; for it is
from these positions that the oldest traditions represent them to have
been driven by the Chippewas. Lieut. Pike thinks they are, undeniably,
descendants of Tartars. If so, I feel inclined to think that they must
have made the circuit of the Mexican provinces before reaching the
Mississippi Valley, for the track of their migration is traced towards
the south certainly as far as the country of the Kansas and Osages;
while they preserve some striking traits and characteristics which
appear to be referable to those intertropical regions.
[94] This is an Algonquin expression, signifying enemy. It is derived
from _Nodowa_, an Iroquois, or a Dacota; the word was originally
applied to a serpent. The termination in _sie_ is from _awasie_, an
animal or creature. This term is the root, it is apprehended, of the
French sobriquet _Sioux_.
Having passed the better part of three days in the vicinity of St.
Peter's, adding to our collections and portfolios, we left it on the
second of August, and proceeded down the river to the village of La
Petite Corbeau, or the Little Raven, situated on the east bank not far
above the mouth of the St. Croix. The river, in this distance flows
between lofty cliffs of the white sandstone and neutral-colored
limestones, which are first conspicuously displayed at the Falls of St.
Anthony. Springs of water, not infrequently, issue from these cliffs. We
landed at one of these, flowing in through a gorge at the distance of
four miles below St. Peter's, on the east bank, for the purpose of
visiting a remarkable cave, from the mouth of which a small stream
issues. The cave is seated wholly within the beautiful white crumbling
sandstone rock. It is, in fact, the loose character of the rock which
permits the superincumbent waters of the plains above to permeate
through it, that has originated the cave. The stream consisted of the
purest filtrated water, which is daily carrying away the loosened grains
of sand into the Mississippi, and thus enlarging the boundaries of the
cavern.[95] We had been erroneously informed that this was Carver's
Cave, and looked in vain for this traveller's name on its walls.[96] The
atmosphere in this cave was found to be seven degrees higher than the
water. We noticed nothing in the form of bones or antiquities.
[95] St. Paul's, the present capital of Minnesota (1854), is situated
on the high grounds, a few miles below this cave.
[96] Carver's Cave is four miles lower down, on the same side of the
river, agreeably to subsequent observation. It is now obstructed by
fallen rock and debris.
The village of Petite Corbeau consists of twelve large lodges, which are
said to give shelter to two hundred souls. They plant corn, and
cultivate vines and pumpkins. They sallied from their lodges on seeing
us approach, and, gathering along the margin of the river, fired a _feu
de joie_ on our landing. The chief was among the first to greet us. He
is a man below the common size, but brawny and well proportioned, and,
although above fifty years of age, retains the look and vigor of forty.
He invited us to his lodge--a spacious building about sixty feet by
thirty, substantially constructed of logs and bark. Being seated, he
addressed himself to His Excellency Gov. Cass. He said that he was glad
to see him in his village. That, in his extensive journey, he must have
suffered many hardships. He must also have noticed much of the Indian
mode of life, and of the face of the country, which would enable him to
see things in their proper light. He was glad that he had not, like
others who had lately visited the country, passed by his village without
calling. He referred, particularly, to the military force sent to
establish a garrison at St. Peter's, the year before, who had passed up
on the other side of the river. He acquiesced in the treaty that had
been recently concluded with the Chippewas. He referred to a recent
attack of a party of Fox Indians on their people, on the head waters of
the St. Peter's. He said it was dastardly, and that, if that _little_
tribe should continue their attacks, they would at length drive him into
anger, and compel him to do a thing he did not wish.
While this speech was being interpreted, the Indian women were employed
in bringing basketsful of ears of Indian corn from the fields, which
they emptied in a pile. This pile, when it had reached a formidable
height, was offered as a present to the Expedition. It was, indeed, the
beginning of the season of green corn, with them, and we were soon
apprised, by the sound of music from another lodge, that the festival of
the green-corn dance was going forward. Being admitted to see the
ceremonies, the first thing which attracted notice was two large iron
kettles suspended over a fire, filled with green-corn cut from the cob.
The Indians, both men and women, were seated in a large circle around
them; they were engaged in singing a measured chant in the Indian
manner, accompanied by the Sioux cancega or drum and rattles; the utmost
solemnity was depicted on every countenance. When the music paused,
there were certain gesticulations made, as if a mysterious power were
invoked. In the course of these ceremonies, a young man and his sister,
joining hands, came forward to be received into the green corn society,
of whom questions were asked by the presiding official. At the
conclusion of these, the voice of each member was taken as to their
admission, which was unanimous. At the termination of the ceremonies, an
elderly man came forward and ladled out the contents of the kettles into
separate wooden dishes for each head of a family present. As these
dishes were received, the persons retired from the lodge by a backward
movement, still keeping their faces directed to the kettles, till they
had passed out.