Chapter IV: Appendix (1)

HYDROGRAPHY OF THE SOURCES OF THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER.

In reference to the question as to which stream we should look to for the right source of the Mississippi, the following article has been prepared by Col. Charles Whittlesey—a man well known to the reading public, not only by his explorations and contributions to the stock of knowledge concerning the geology and physical geography of the North West, but by his writings on the earthworks and other relics of the aboriginal inhabitants of the same region:

“CLEVELAND, O., March 28, 1866.

“Turtle Lake, at the head of Turtle River, which discharges
into Cass Lake, is the most northerly of the waters of the
Mississippi. Mr. Schoolcraft claims that Itasca Lake and its
tributaries constitute the true source of the Great River,
because these streams are further from the mouth than any
other. Whether this, if true, is a correct mode of fixing the
head waters of rivers, I must be allowed to doubt. It seems to
me that the _largest_ branch forms the river, and the heads of
that branch constitute the sources.

“When I was on the upper waters of the Mississippi, in
September 1848, I compared the quantity of water flowing
from Lake Winnibigoshish with that from Leech Lake, as far
as observations without gauging enabled me to do it. At that
time I judged the discharge from the Leech Lake branch to be
three times as much as from Lake Winnibigoshish, and one of
our voyageurs, who was raised in the region, said it generally
discharged twice as much. The distance from the junction of the
Leech Lake branch, below Winnibigoshish, to the most distant
sources of the various branches, does not appear to me to be
materially different. Among the hundreds of small streams
converging into, and passing through nearly as many lakes,
there cannot be said to be a main or separate river above this
junction. From this point, the Mississippi assumes its proper
characteristics, as one stream, to the gulf of Mexico; but
above it, the branches are excessively numerous. Below the
junction, it is two chains wide, with a broad regular current,
having the same imposing features which it retains to its
mouth. The furthest streams that discharge into Leech Lake rise
to the south, interlocking with the waters of Pine River; but,
if we can rely upon our maps—of a region as yet unsurveyed—the
development of these branches, including the lakes through
which they pass, equals in length the Itasca branch.

“Our missionaries at Cass Lake said the Turtle River discharged
more water than Bemidji River, which enters Cass Lake from
Itasca Lake.”

HISTORICAL NOTES OF THE UNITED STATES LAND OFFICE.

[By Hon. H. M. Rice, of St. Paul.]

On the 26th day of January, 1796, when the American Congress was in session in Philadelphia, a Bill was reported for establishing land offices for the sale of lands in the North-western Territory. It was under discussion until April of the same year in the House of Representatives. A great diversity of opinion existed; some were in favor of selling in small tracts of fifty acres—others contended that none should be surveyed or sold in less than township tracts. Some favored a Bill that would retain the lands for actual settlers, others were for disposing of as much of the public domain as possible, and at the highest price, for the purpose of paying the public debt. For a long time, they could not agree upon the price. Mr. Williams, of New York, said “it was as necessary that the country should be settled as that the land should be sold. Or shall it be said that the honest, industrious settlers shall make roads, bridges, and other improvements, whilst the rich holders keep their lands in hand until these improvements are made, in order to increase the value of them?” Mr. Williams, undoubtedly, took a correct view of the case. The Bill, as finally agreed upon, established the office of Surveyor General, under the following title: “_An Act providing for the sale of the Lands of the United States, in the Territory North-west of the river Ohio, and above the mouth of Kentucky river_.” On the 18th of May, 1796, the Bill was approved by receiving the signature of George Washington. The office was first opened at Marietta, Ohio, under Rufus Putnam, Surveyor General. In 1804 it was removed to Vincennes;—in 1805 to Cincinnati;—in 1814 to Chillicothe;—in 1829 it was removed back to Cincinnati, where it remained until 1845, when it was removed to Detroit. In May, 1857, the office was again, and for the last time, removed to St. Paul. It now has in its custody the original correspondence for its establishment in 1796, which, undoubtedly, contains many important facts and reminiscences that would not only fully pay for their perusal, but might furnish historical points of great value. Through it, the past and present are connected. There can be found the workings under the original act under which no lands could be surveyed in tracts of less than 640 acres, nor sold for less than two dollars per acre; and out of this has grown our admirable system, which places within the reach of every man a home, be he rich, or be he poor.

THE GEOGRAPHY OF PERROT; SO FAR AS IT RELATES TO MINNESOTA AND THE REGIONS IMMEDIATELY ADJACENT.

[Prepared by A. J. Hill, of St. Paul, and accepted for publication by the Minnesota Historical Society.]

§ 1. SHORT ACCOUNT OF PERROT AND HIS WRITINGS.

Nicolas Perrot, whose name is already well known to the readers of the early history of Minnesota, was born in 1644, and repaired, at an early age, to New France, where he resided, almost habitually, from 1665 to 1689, amongst the diverse races of its most distant part—the extremity of the angle formed by the valleys of the St. Lawrence and of the Mississippi. “At first simple _coureur du bois_ by trade (1665-1684), and interpreter incidentally (1671-1701), he was at last, under the successive governments of M. M. de la Barre, Denonville and Frontenac (1684-1699), charged with a command analogous to that of our chiefs of Arab bureaux in Algeria.” In his capacity of interpreter, he was present at the convocation of the tribes at _Sainte-Marie-du-Sault_, where, on the 14th of June, 1671, the French government assumed the sovereignty of the regions beyond the Great Lakes. Nearly eighteen years later, on the 8th of May, 1689, he himself, acting as principal agent, took formal possession, in the name of the King of France, of all the country visited by him, or that might be visited, from Green Bay to the regions beyond the St. Croix and St. Peter. Subsequent to 1718, no information concerning him can be obtained.

The writings of Perrot are as follows:

1. _Memoire sur les Outagamis, addresse au Marquis de Vaudreuil._

2. _Plusieurs memoires tant sur les guerres des Iroquois contre les Illinois et les nations d’en haut, que sur les trahisons des sauvages, et en particulier, des Outaouais et des Hurons._

3. _Memoire sur les moeurs, coustumes, et relligion des sauvages de l’Amerique Septentrionale._

Of these works, the last one only, the “Memoir upon the manners, customs and religion of the savages of Northern America,” which must have been written some time between 1718, and 1721, has come down to us; though the “_Plusieurs memoires_” _&c._, is supposed to have been inserted, almost literally, by La Potherie, in the second volume of his history. It was not composed for publication, but for the confidential information of the Intendant of Canada, M. Begon, and remained in manuscript till 1864, when it appeared at Leipzig and Paris, being Part Three of the Bibliotheca Americana, edited by the Rev. Father J. Tailhan, of the Society of Jesus, on whose authority the preceding facts are stated. “There is only one copy of Perrot’s memoir in existence, of the last century; the same, probably, that Father Charlevoix used, and which he received from M. Begon, Intendant of Canada, in 1721. Our edition is a scrupulous reproduction of it.” [T.]

Scattered through this book are accounts of the Sioux and other tribes living in the region comprised within the limits of the present Minnesota, and between it and Lake Michigan; and, in the same connection, a description of the country of the former nation, and other geographical information of more or less direct reference. As an interesting addition to our knowledge of the _historical geography_ of this region, all such notices have been carefully searched for, and are here given in a collected form for the use of the Historical Society of Minnesota. The extracts are purely in Perrot’s own words; no changes having been made, even in the orthography. In addition, though trenching somewhat on the domain of history, the episode of the disappearance of Father Menard is included;—partly by reason of the new and interesting version of the matter, and partly as showing that he should be considered as one of the very earliest European visitors to Minnesota. Our first desideratum being _accurate texts_, comments are best postponed; yet the notes of Father Tailhan are so well considered that this compilation would be incomplete without the insertion of such of them as correspond to the extracts from the original work. The translator has also ventured upon two or three explanatory remarks, or interpolations, of his own, distinguishable by being inclosed within brackets; except the dates, which are the Father’s.

§ 2. _Extracts from his “Memoire sur les moeurs, &c.”_

Car le pays du nord est la terre du monde la plus ingratte, puisque, dans quantitez d’endroits vous ne trouveriez pas un oiseau a chasser; on y ramasse cependant des bluets dans les mois d’aout et de septembre[2]....

Les Chiripinons ou Assiniboualas sement dans leurs marais quelques folles avoines qu’ils recueillent, mais ils n’en peuvent faire le transport chez eux que dans le temps de la navigation(1)....

Les Kiristinons qui hantent souvent le long des bords du Lac Superieur et des grandes rivieres, ou sont plus communement les elans(2)....

Les sauvages que l’on nomme Saulteurs [Chippewais] sont au sud du lac Superieur ... ils ont pour voysins et amis les Scioux, sur les limites desquels ils chassent, quand ils veulent....

Si on avance dans le nord, vers l’entree d’Ouisconching, l’hiver y est extremement froid et long. C’est la ou les castors sont les meilleurs, et le pays ou la chasse dure plus longtemps dans l’annee....

Ils tirent aussy l’hyver de dessous la glace dans les marests ou il y a beaucoup de vase et peu d’eau, une certaine racine, ... mais elle ne se trouve que dans la Louisianne, a quinze lieues plus haut que l’entree d’Ouisconching. Les sauvages nomme en leur langue cette racine Pokekoretch....

Mais les peuples plus avancez dans le nord, jusqu’a la hauteur d’Ouisconching, n’ont plus de ces nefles, et ceux qui sont encore plus loin manquent de ces noix semblables a celles de France....

Car ce pays [des sauvages des prairies] n’est que plaines; il y a seulement quelques islets ou ils ont coustume d’aller camper pour faire secher leurs viandes....

Quand touts les Outaouas se furent repandus vers les lacs [au Mechingan (3)], les Saulteurs et les Missisakis s’enfuirent dans le nord, et puis a Kionconan(4) faute de chasse; et les Outaouas craignants de n’estre pas assez forts pour soustenir les incursions des Iroquois, qui estoient informez de l’endroit ou ils avoient fait leur establissement, se refugierent au Micissypy, qui se nomme a present la Louisianne. Ils monterent ce fleuve a douze lieues ou environ d’Ouisconching, ou ils trouverent une autre riviere qui se nomme des Ayoes(5). Ils la suivirent jusqu’a sa source et y recontrerent des nations qui les receurent cordialement. Mais, dans toutte l’etendue de pays qu’ils parcoururent, n’ayant pas veu de lieu propre a s’establir, a cause qu’il n’y avait dutout point de bois, et qu’il ne paroissoit que prairies et rases campagnes, quoyque les buffles et autres bestes y fusses en abondance, ils reprirent leur mesme route pour retourner sur leurs pas; et, apres avoir encore une fois aborde la Louisianne, ils monterent plus haut.

Ils n’y furent pas longtemps sans s’ecarter pour aller d’un coste et d’autre a la chasse: je parle d’une partie seulement de leurs gens, que les Scioux rencontierent, prirent et ammenerent a leurs villages, ... et puis les rendirent a leurs gens.

Les Outaouas et Hurons les recurent fort bien a leur tour, sans neantmoins leur faire de grands presents. Les Scioux estant revenus chez eux avec quelques petites choses qu’ils avoient receues des Outaouas, en firent part aux autres villages leurs alliez, et donnèrent aux uns des haches et aux autres quelques cousteaux ou alaines. Touts ces villages envoyerent des deputez chez les Outaouas(6).—— ...

Les Scioux faisoient milles caresses aux Hurons et Outaouas partout ou ils estoient.—— ... Les Outaouas se determinerent enfin a choisir l’isle nommee Pelee pour s’establir; ou ils furent quelquees annees en repos. Ils y receurent souvent la visitte des Scioux....

Les Hurons, ayant assez d’audace pour s’imaginer que les Scioux estoient incapables de leur resister sans armes de fer et a feu, conspirerent avec les Outaouas de les entreprendre et de leur faire le guerre, afin de les chasser de leur pays, et de se pouvoir estendre d’avantage pour chercher leur subsistance. Les Outaouas et les Hurons se joignirent ensemble et marcherent contre les Scioux. Ils crurent que sitost qu’ils paroistroient, ils fuiroient; mais ils furent bien trompez; car ils soustinrent leurs efforts, et mesme les repousserent, et s’ils ne s’estoient retirez ils auroient estez entierement deffaits par le grand nombre de monde, qui venoient des autres villages de leurs alliez a leur secours. On les poursuivit jusqu’a leur establissement, ou ils furent contraints de faire un mechant fort, qui ne laissa par d’estre capable de faire retirer les Scioux, puisqu’ils n’oserent entreprendre de l’attaquer.

Les incursions continuelles que les Scioux faisoient sur eux les contraignirent de fuir(7). Ils avoient eu connoissance d’une riviere qu’on nomme la Riviere Noire; ils entrerent dedans et, estant arrivez la ou elle prend sa source, les Hurons y trouverent un lieu propre pour s’y fortiffier et y establir leur village. Les Outaouas pousserent plus loin, et marcherent jusqu’au lac Superieur, et fixerent leur demeure a Chagouamikon. Les Scioux, voyant leurs ennemis partis, demeurerent en repos sans les suivre d’avantage; mais les Hurons n’en voulurent point demeurer la; ils formerent quelques partys contre eux, qui firent peu d’effect, leur attirerent de la part des Scioux de frequentes incursions, et les obligerent de quitter leur fort pour aller joindre les Outaouas a Chagouamikon, avec une grande perte de leurs gens. Aussytost qu’ils furent arrivez, ils songerent a former un party de cent hommes pour aller contre les Scioux, et s’en vanger.

Il est a remarquer que le pays ou ils sont [les Sioux] n’est autre chose que lacs et marests remplis de folles avoines, separes les uns des autres par de petites langues de terre qui n’ont tout au plus d’un lac a l’autre que trente a quarante pas, et d’autres cinq a six ou un peu plus. Ces lacs ou marests contiennent cinquante lieues et d’avantage en carre, et ne sont separes par aucune riviere que par celle de la Louisianne, qui a son lit dans le milieu, ou une partie de leurs eaux viennent se degorger. D’autres tombent dans la riviere de Sainte Croix, qui est situee a leur egard au nord-est, et qui les range de pres. Enfin les autres marests et lacs situez a l’ouest de la riviere de Saint Pierre s’y vont jetter pareillement; si bien que les Scioux sont inaccessibles dans un pays si marecageaux, et ne peuvent y estre detruits que par des ennemis ayant des cannots comme eux pour les poursuivre; parceque dans ces endroits il n’y a que cinq ou six familles ensemble, qui forment comme un gros, ou une espece de petit village, et tous les autres sont de mesme eloignez a une certaine distance, afin d’estre a portee de se pouvoir prester la main a la premiere alarme. Si quelqu’une de ces petites bourgades est attaquee, l’ennemy n’en peut deffaire que tres peu, parceque tous les voysins se trouvent assemblez tout d’un coup, et donnent un prompt secours ou il est besoin. La methode qu’ils ont pour naviguer dans ces sortes de lacs est de couper dedans leur semences, avec leurs cannots, et, les portant de lac en lac ils obligent l’ennemy qui veut fuir a tourner autour; qui vont tousjours d’un lac a un autre, jusqu’a ce qu’ils les ayent tous passez, et qu’ils soient arrivez a la grand terre.

Les cent hommes Hurons s’engagerent dans le milieu de ces marests, sans cannots, ou ils furent decouverts par quelques Scioux, qui accoururent pour donner l’alarme par tout. Cette nation estoit nombreuse, dispersee dans toutte la circonference des marests, ou l’on recueilloit quantite de folles avoines, qui est le grain de cette nation, dont le goust est meilleur que celuy du riz.

Plus de trois mil Scioux se rendirent de touts costez, et investirent les Hurons, ... de tout ce party, il n’en echapa qu’un(8).

...

Les Hurons, se voyant fort peu de monde, prirent le party de ne pas songer a se venger et de vivre paisiblement a Chagouamikon pendant plusieurs annees. Pendant tout ce temps la, ils ne furent point insultez des Scioux, qui ne s’appliquerent uniquement qu’a faire la guerre aux Kiristinons, aux Assiniboules et a toutes les nations du nord, qu’ils ont detruits et desquels ils se sont aussy faits detruire respectivement....

Le Pere Mesnard qu’on avoit donne pour missionnaire aux Outaouas [1660], accompagne de quelques Francois qui alloient commercer chez cette nation, fust abandonne de touts ceux qu’il avoit avec luy, a la reserve d’un qui luy rendit jusqu’a la mort touts les services et les secours qu’il en pouvoit esperer. Ce Pere suivit les Outaouas au lac des Illinoets, et dans leur fuitte dans la Louisianne jusqu’au-dessus de la Riviere Noire. Ce fut la qu’il n’y eust qu’un seul Francois qui tint compagnie a ce missionnaire et que tous les autres le quitterent. Ce Francois dis je suivoit attentivement la route et faisoit son portage dans les mesmes endroits que les Outaouas; ne s’ecartant jamais de la mesme riviere qu’eux. Il se trouva, un jour [Aout 1661], dans un rapide qui l’entrainoit dans son cannot; le Pere pour le soulager debarqua du sien, et ne prit pas le bon chemin pour venir a luy; il s’engagea dans celuy qui estoit battu des animaux, et voulant retomber dans le bon, il s’embarrassa dans un labyrinthe d’arbres et s’egara. Ce Francois apres avoir surmonte ce rapide avec bien de la peine, attendit ce bon Pere, et comme il ne venoit point, resolut de l’aller chercher. Il l’appella dans les bois de touttes ses forces, pendant plusieurs jours, esperant de le decouvrir, mais inutilement. Cependant il fit rencontre en chemin d’un Sakis qui portoit la chaudiere du missionnaire; qui luy aprist de ses nouvelles. Il l’asseura qu’il avoit trouve sa piste bien avant dans les terres, mais qu’il n’avoit pas vue le Pere. Il luy dit qu’il avoit aussy trouve la trace de plusieurs autres qui alloient vers les Scioux. Il luy declara mesme qu’il s’imaginoit que les Scioux l’auroient pu tuer ou qu’il en auroit este pris. En effet, on trouva, plusieurs annees apres, chez cette nation, son breviaire et sa soutanne, qu’ils exposoient dans les festins en y vouant leurs mets, ... chasser du costez des Scioux, car Chagouamikon n’en est eloigne, coupant par les terres en ligne direct, que de cinquante a soixante lieues, ...

... on luy donna pour second M. de Lude [du Lhut] qu’il envoya avertir [1684] a Kamalastigouia, au fond du lac Superieur, ou estoit son poste(9)....

Je fus envoye a cette baye [des Puans, poste de Saint Francois Xavier], charge d’une commission pour y commander en chef et dans les pays plus eloignes du coste du ouest, et de ceux mesme que je pourrois decouvrir [1685]....

Je ne fus pas plustot arrive dans les endroits ou je devois commander, que je recus ordre de M. Denonville de revenir avec tous les Francois que j’avois ... Je me trouvais en ce temps-la dans le pays des Scioux ou la gelee avoit brise tous nos cannots; je fus contraint d’y passer l’este [1686]....

Je fus pas terre chez les Miamis qui estoient a soixante lieues environ de mon poste [dans le pays des Scioux], et m’ens revins par terre de mesme que j’y estoit alle....

Quelques jours apres je m’en fus a travers les terres a la Baye avec deux Francois. J’en rencontroit a tout moment qui m’enseignoient le meilleur chemin et me regaloient fort bien(10)....

[2] _Au lecteur._ Dans ces extraits, le text que donne le
Pere T. a ete implicitement suivi; mais quant aux accents
grammatiques, on doit pardonner leur absence, puis ce qu’il n’y
a pas encore de type Francais dans les imprimeries de St. Paul. H.

TRANSLATION.

For the country of the north is the most ungrateful country in
the world, since, in many places, you would not find a bird to
hunt; still, blueberries are gathered there in the months of
August and September....

The Chiripinons, or Assiniboines, sow wild rice in their
marshes, which they afterwards gather, but they can only
transport it home during the period of navigation(1)....

The Kiristinons, who often frequent the shores of Lake Superior
and of the great rivers, where the elk are most commonly to be
found(2)....

The savages, called Sauteurs, [Chippewas] are on the south of
Lake Superior....

They have for neighbors and friends the Sioux, upon whose
limits they hunt, when they wish....

Advancing to the north, towards the entry of the Wisconsin, the
winter is extremely cold and long. It is there that the beavers
are the best, and the country where hunting lasts the longest
during the year....

They take, also, in winter, from under the ice, in marshes
where there is much mud and little water, a certain root; ...
but it is only found in _Louisianne_, fifteen leagues [4½
miles] above the entry of the Wisconsin. The savages name this
root, in their language, Pokekoretch....

But the tribes the furthest advanced in the north, as far as
the latitude of the Wisconsin, do not have these medlars, and
those who are yet further, want also the nuts similar to the
ones of France....

For this country [of the savages of the prairies] is entirely
plains; there are only some islands [oases] where it is their
custom to camp to dry their meat....

When the Ottowas had scattered towards the lakes [to
Mechingan(3)], the Sauteurs and the Missisakis fled to the
north, and then to _Kionconan_(4), for want of hunting; and
the Ottowas, fearing they were not strong enough to resist the
incursions of the Iroquois, who were informed of the place
where they had made their establishment, took refuse on the
Mississippi, called at present the _Louisianne_. They ascended
this river to twelve leagues, or about [33 miles] from the
Wisconsin, where they found another river that is called
[river] of the Ioways(5). They followed it to its source, and
there met nations who received them cordially. But, in all the
extent of country which they overran, having seen no place
proper to establish themselves, by reason that there was no
wood there at all, and that prairies and level plains were all
that appeared, although buffaloes and other animals were there
in abundance, they returned upon their steps by the same route;
and, after having once more reached the _Louisianne_, they
ascended higher.

They were not there long without scattering, going from one
side to another for hunting: I speak of a portion, only, of
their people, whom the Sioux met and led to their villages, ...
and then returned them to the rest.

The Ottowas and Hurons received them very well in their turn,
without, however, making them any great presents. The Sioux
having arrived at home with some little matters that they had
received from the Ottowas, divided portions of them with the
other villages, their allies, and gave to the ones, hatchets,
and to others, knives or awls. All these villages sent deputies
to the Ottowas(6)....

The Sioux received the Ottowas and Hurons in the best manner,
wherever they went.... The Ottowas at last resolved to choose
the island called Bald, [_Pelee_] to settle on; where they were
several years in repose. They often received there the visit of
the Sioux....

The Hurons, having so much audacity that they imagined the
Sioux were incapable of resisting them without fire-arms
and weapons of iron, conspired with the Ottowas to make war
upon them, in order to drive them from their country, so as
to be able to spread themselves more, to procure means of
subsistence. The Ottowas and the Hurons joined together and
marched against the Sioux. They believed that as soon as
they would appear, the others would fly; but they were much
deceived, for their attacks were sustained, and they were
even repulsed; and if they had not retreated, would have been
entirely defeated by the great number of people who came from
the other allied villages to the assistance of the Sioux. They
were pursued to their settlement, where they were obliged to
make a hasty fort, which, however, was sufficient to cause the
Sioux to retire;—not daring to storm it.

The continual inroads that the Sioux made upon them constrained
them to fly(7). They had known of a river called the Black
River. This they entered; and, having arrived where it takes
its source, the Hurons found there a place fit to fortify
themselves in, and to establish their village. The Ottowas,
however, pushed beyond, and reached Lake Superior, where they
fixed their home at _Chagouamikon_. The Sioux, seeing their
enemies fled, remained in peace, without following them any
more. But the Hurons were not content to stop there; they
sent some parties against them, which, however, making little
impression, drew frequent incursions on the part of the Sioux,
and caused them to quit their fort to join the Ottowas at
_Chagouamikon_, with a great loss of their people. So soon as
they arrived there, they thought of forming a war party of one
hundred men to go against the Sioux, and to revenge themselves
for their former defeats.

It is to be remarked that the country where they are [the
Sioux] is nothing but lakes and marshes, filled with wild
rice, separated, the ones from the others, by little tongues
of land, which, at the most, from one lake to the other, are
but thirty to forty steps, and, in many cases, only five to
six or a little more. These lakes, or marshes, contain fifty
or more leagues square, [19 or 20,000 square miles] and are
divided by no river but the _Louisianne_, which has its
bed in the middle, and into which a part of their waters is
emptied. Others fall into the river of _Sainte Croix_, which is
situated, in respect to them, to the north-east, and flows near
them. Finally, the other marshes and lakes, situated to the
west of the river of Saint Peter, throw themselves similarly
into it. Thus, the Sioux are inaccessible in that marshy
country, and cannot be destroyed there, but by enemies having
canoes, like themselves, to follow them; for, in these places,
there are only five or six families together, which form a
hamlet, or a kind of small village; and all the others are in
the same way, at a certain distance, in order to be ready to
help each other at the first alarm. If any one of these little
villages is attacked, the enemy can hurt it but slightly; for
all the neighbors assemble at once, and give prompt assistance
where it is needed. The way they have of navigating these lakes
is to strike into their [rice] fields with their canoes, and,
carrying them from lake to lake, they force the flying enemy to
turn round. Thus, they can go from one to another, till they
have passed them all, and have arrived at the main land.

The hundred Hurons became entangled in the middle of these
marshes, without canoes, where they were discovered by some
Sioux, who hastened to give a general alarm. This nation [the
Sioux] was numerous, scattered through all the extent of the
marshes where they were gathering wild rice which is the grain
of this people, and tastes better than rice.

More than three thousand Sioux approached, from all sides, and
invested the Hurons, ... of all this party but one escaped(8).

...

The Hurons, seeing that they were so weak in numbers, concluded
not to seek for revenge any more, but lived peaceably at
Chagouamikon for many years. During all this time, they were
not molested by the Sioux, who only applied themselves to
making war on the Kiristinons, the Assiniboines, and all the
other nations of the north, whom they have much injured, and by
whom they have, on their part, been decimated....

Father Menard, who had been appointed missionary to the
Ottowas, [in 1660, and who went to them], accompanied by some
Frenchmen that were going to traffic with that nation, was
abandoned by all who were with him, except one, who rendered
to him, to the last, all the services and assistance that he
stood in need of. The Father followed the Ottawas to the lake
of the Illinois, and in their flight to _Louisianne_, as far
as to above the Black River. There it was that this missionary
had but one Frenchman for companion, and where all the rest
had left him. This Frenchman, I say, followed carefully the
route of the Ottawas, and made his portages in the same places
that they had;—never leaving the same river that they were on.
He found himself, one day [August, 1661], in a rapid that was
carrying him away in his canoe. The Father, to relieve him,
disembarked from his own, but did not take the proper road to
come to him; he entered one that had been made by animals; and
desiring to return to the right one, became embarrassed in a
labyrinth of trees and was lost. The Frenchman, after having
ascended the rapid, with a great deal of trouble, waited for
the good Father, and as he did not come, concluded to search
for him. He called his name in the woods with all his strength,
for several days, but in vain. However, he met, in the way, a
Sauk who was carrying the camp kettle of the missionary; and
who told him news of him. He informed him that he had found his
track a long way on, in the woods, but that he had not seen the
Father himself. He told him, too, that he had found the traces
of several others going towards the Sioux. He even said that he
thought the Sioux might have killed him, or taken him prisoner.
Indeed, several years afterwards, there were found amongst this
nation his breviary and cassock, which they exposed at their
ceremonies, making offerings to them of their food....

... to hunt in the direction of the Sioux; for _Chagouamikon_
is only fifty to sixty leagues [138 to 166 miles] distant from
them, going across the country in a direct line....

... They gave him, for second. M. du Lhut, whom he sent word
to [1684] at _Kamalastiguoia_, at the further side of Lake
Superior, where was his post(9)....

I was sent to this bay [Green Bay, post of St. Francois
Xavier], charged with the commission to have chief command
there, and in the most distant countries on the side of the
west, and even in any that I might discover [1685]....

I had no sooner arrived in the places where I was to command,
than I received orders from M. Denonville to return, with all
the Frenchmen that were with me.

... At that time, I was in the country of the Sioux, where the
freezing [of the streams] had broken all our canoes; I was
compelled to stay there during the summer [1686]....

I went by land to the Miamis, who were about sixty leagues
[165½ miles] from my post [in the country of the Sioux], and
returned from them the same way that I had gone....

Some days after, I went across the country to the Bay [Green]
with two Frenchmen. I met, continually, with those who showed
me the best road, and treated me very well(10).

§ 3. Extracts from the notes to the “Memoire sur les moeurs &c.”

(1) “Assinipoualaks, or _warriors of the rock_, now Assiniboines, a Sioux tribe, which, towards the commencement of the seventeenth century, having quarrelled with the rest of the nation, was obliged to secede, and took refuge amongst the rocks (assin) of the Lake of the Woods.”

(2) “The Kilistinons lived upon the banks of Lake Alimbegong, between Lake Superior and Hudson’s Bay.”

(3) “_Mechingan_—eastern Wisconsin and north-western Michigan.”

(4) “_Kionconan_—Kewenaw of the American maps.“ [Pronounced by the modern Chippewas It is like _Ke-wa-yo-nahn-ing_.—E. F. Ely.]

(5) “The Iowas, neighbors and allies of the Sioux, dwelt between the 44th and 45th degrees of north latitude, twelve days’ journey beyond the Mississippi: that they very likely belonged to the latter nation, is shown by the name of _Nadouessioux Maskoutens_, or _Nadouessioux of the prairies_, that the Algonquins had given them; for _Maskoute_, [Mush-ku-day,] the root of _Maskoutens_, signifies _land destitute of trees_, or _prairie_.”

(6) “We know indeed that two Frenchmen visited, in 1659, the forty Sioux villages without crossing, or even seeing, the Mississippi, of which they have only spoken from hearsay, and from the descriptions that the Hurons of Black River gave them of it. The villages belonged, then, all to the eastern portion of the Sioux territory, situated on this side of the river; that is to say, in the half of the country really occupied by this nation. It may, however, be that in the infant Mississippi, disguised, too, under a Sioux name, our two travelers did not recognize the large and powerful river that the Hurons told them of under its Algonquin title. In this case, they must have been, though without their knowledge, the first to see again in the seventeenth century, the Mississippi, discovered in the sixteenth by Ferdinand de Soto.” ... “One of these travelers was called Des Groseillers, and lived many months with the Sioux. This we gather from the following passage of the M. S. Journal of the Jesuits of Quebec, (Aug., 1660).... “The Ottowas arrived on the 19th.... There were three hundred of them. Des Groseillers was in their company; he had gone to them the year before.... Des Groseillers has wintered with the nation of the Ox [_nation du boeuf_], which he makes to be 4,000 men. They are the sedentary Nadouesserons’ (Sioux of the East).”

(7) “From the commencement of 1660, the Ottowas inhabited Chegoimegon Point [Shah-gah-wah-mik-ong—Ely], as well as the islands adjacent to it on the southern shore of Lake Superior. The Hurons, at that time, were in hiding near the sources of the Black River, at six days distance (40 or 50 leagues), from the same lake, and at seven or eight from Green Bay. The two peoples were visited, in 1659, by two French traders, who, penetrating beyond, made alliance with the Sioux. It is then between the years 1657 [at which time the Hurons and Ottowas were living in Mechingan,] and 1660, that the events described by Perrot must have taken place; that is, from the flight of these tribes to the Mississippi, up to their first troubles with the Sioux, which were followed by a new migration—that was not their last one.” ... “In reckoning at forty or fifty leagues the six days journey that separated the residence of the Hurons from Lake Superior, I have only applied the rule given in the _Relation_ of 1658 by Father Dreuillettes; ‘You will see also,’ he writes, ‘the new roads to go to the sea of the north, ... with the distance of the places, according to the days travel that the savages have made, which I put at fifteen leagues a day in descending, on account of the rapidity of the waters, and at seven or eight leagues in ascending.’” [The common league of France is equal to 2.76 miles.]

(8) “This disastrous expedition following the arrival of the Hurons at Chegoimegon, it could not, consequently, have taken place before 1662. On the other hand, it preceded, by many years perhaps, the visit that the Chief of the Sinagaux Ottowas paid the Sioux in 1665 or 1666; it is then very likely that the defeat of the Hurons by the Sioux occurred in one of the two years, 1662 or 1663.” ... “Two reasons have impelled me to place in 1665-1666, the arrival of the Sioux prisoners at Chegoimegon, followed by their return to their country with the chief of the Sinagaux and the four Frenchmen of whom Perrot speaks. The first is that, in this year, the Sioux very certainly visited the Point of the Holy Spirit; the second, that, according to the account of these events, as it is given by our author, four or five years at least, had passed away between this visit and the abandoning of Chegoimegon, in 1670-71, by the Hurons and the Ottowas.”

(9) “_Kalamalastigouia_—an application of DuLhut, made in 1693, in which he solicits the concession of this post, gives the name as _Kamanastigouian_.”

(10) “Perrot, who was recalled in 1685, from the country of the Sioux, received, four years later, express orders to take possession of it in the name of the king, as seen in the following document: ...

“‘_Nicolas Perrot, commandant pour le roi au poste des Nadouesioux ... declarons a tous qu’il appartiendra etre venus a la baye des Puants et au lac des Outagamis, rivieres des dits Outagamis et Maskoutins, riviere de l’Ouiskonche et celle de Mississippi, nous etre transportes au pays des Nadouesioux, sur le bord de la riviere de Sainte Croix, a l’entree de la riviere de Saint Pierre, sur laquelle etaient les Mantantons, et, plus haut dans les terres, au nord-est du Mississippi, jusqu aux Menchokatouches, chez lesquels habitent la plus grande partie des Songeskitoux et autres Nadouesioux qui sont au nord-est du Mississippi, pour et au nom du Roy, prendre possession des terres et rivieres ou les dites nations habitent, et desquelles elles sont proprietaires ... fait au poste Saint-Antoine le dit jour et an que dessus_’”—[le 8 Mai 1689.] See Neills’ History of Minnesota, pages 143 to 145, for _translation_ of this “deed” in full.

DAKOTA SUPERSTITIONS.

By G. H. Pond, of Bloomington.

BLOOMINGTON, December 14, 1866.

Rev. JOHN MATTOCKS—_Dear Sir_:—I have deferred complying with
your request to prepare a paper for the Historical Society till
now, only because I have never found the leisure necessary to
do it. Even now I have been obliged to let every thing else go
except what was absolutely necessary to be done in order to
attend to it. The press of to-day contains a notice of your
meeting last Monday. I suppose, therefore, that I am too late,
but will forward to you what I have prepared. If it is not
acceptable please return it to me.

The “superstitions” to which the paper relates, it may seem
to some, are too absurd to be the religion of men, however
degraded, but they have been obtained from the Indians
themselves, and I have never discovered that they had anything
better, but have discovered much that is worse. I presume that
no one will be disposed to say that it is my own invention,
for that would be giving me credit for more imaginative and
creative genius than I ever claimed. Such as it is I send it,
and shall be satisfied if the society accepts it or returns it
to me.

The sack I send you will find explained under the head
“_Medicine-man a DOCTOR_.” It is not the medicine sack of the
medicine dancer.

In haste, yours, &c.,

G. H. POND.

The Dakota Indians are the tribes who are generally known by the name of Sioux, a name given them by early French explorers.

Of the Dakota there are several—seven—grand divisions who are, by their orators, sometimes spoken of as “SEVEN FIRES.”

These again were divided into a great number of smaller tribes or clans, each having its little chief, who was simply the most influential individual in the clan, which was composed chiefly of blood relations.

The chief, for generations, seems to have had but little authority except that which he derived from the support of some medicine-man, who attached himself to him, or from the fact that government officers and traders transacted business with the clans through them.

The name Dakotah signifies much the same as confederacy. The word is often used as the opposite of enemy.

These divisions and subdivisions of Indians are all embraced under the comprehensive name DAKOTA, the name by which they call themselves. The Assinnaboines are said to have belonged originally to the Dakota family.

A few years ago, these Dakota tribes occupied the country along the Mississippi river, from about Prairie du Chien, to far above the Falls of St. Anthony, the whole of the Minnesota valley, and the immense plains extending westward to, and beyond the Missouri river.

The language of all these tribes is the same, with unimportant dialectic differences, and seems to be entirely distinct from that of the tribes around, except, perhaps, that of the Winnebago tribe.

Being one in language they are alike in their civil polity, if indeed it can be said that they have any, alike in their religious belief and practice, and alike in all their manners, allowing for the modifications which have been produced by diversity of circumstances.

It is to the superstitions of these Dakotas that the following paper relates.

In the first place it seems to be necessary to define the very significant Dakota word _wakan_, for, in it is contained the quintessence of their religion. It is an epitome of the whole, containing its pith and marrow.

The word _wakan_, signifies anything which is incomprehensible. The more incomprehensible the more wakan. The word is applied to anything, and everything, that is strange or mysterious. The general name for the gods in their dialect is this, _Taku-Wakan_, i. e., that which is wakan.

Whatever, therefore, is above the comprehension of a Dakota, is God. Consequently, he sees gods everywhere. Not Jehovah every where, but _Taku-Wakan_.

This is the starting point in their superstitions, but it is not with ease that one can arrive at the other end of the subject. It runs out like the division of matter, to divinity. To use an expression of one of their own most intelligent men, “there is nothing that they do not revere as God.” _Wakan_ is the one idea of divine essence. The chief, if not the only difference that they recognize to exist, among all the tens of thousands of their divinities, is the unessential one of a difference in the degree of their wakan qualities, or in the purposes for which they are wakan.

_We_ speak of the _medicine_-man, _medicine_-feast, _medicine_-dance, and the great-_spirit_ of the Indian, while he speaks of _wakan_-man, the _wakan_-feast, the _wakan_-dance, and the great-_wakan_.

Evidence is wanting to show that these people divide their _Taku-Wakan_ into classes of good or evil. They are all simply wakan. The Dakotas have another word to represent spirit, or soul, or Jehovah, but the word wakan is never used in that sense, though a spirit might be wakan.

Evidence is also wanting to show that the Dakotas embraced in their religious tenets, the idea of one Supreme Existence, whose existence is expressed by the term GREAT SPIRIT. If some of the clans, at the present time, entertain this idea, it seems highly probable that it has been imparted to them by individuals of European extraction. No reference to such a being is to be found in their feasts, or fasts, or sacrifices. Or if there is any such reference at the present time, it is clear that is of recent origin and does not belong to their system. Individuals of them may tell us that the worship of the great medicine-dance is paid to the Great Spirit, but it is absolutely certain that it is not, as will be seen as we proceed.

Mr. Carver tells us of a religious ceremony of a very singular nature—very wakan—in which a person is carefully bound hand and foot and mysteriously released by the gods—the performance of which he witnessed, and which he said had reference to the GREAT SPIRIT. Doubtless it had such reference in his opinion, but it will be shown in another place, that in fact, it had not.

It is indeed true, that Dakotas do sometimes appeal to the Great Spirit when in counsel with white men, but it is because they suppose him to be the object of the white man’s worship, or because they themselves have embraced the Christian doctrines. Still it is generally the _Interpreter_ who makes the appeal to the Great Spirit, when the speaker really appealed to the _Taku_-wakan, and not to the wakan-_Tanku_.

Besides, the great struggle which at the present time exists between the heathen and the Christian Dakotas, is freely _expressed_ to be a strife, between the old system of worship rendered to the _Taku Wakan_, and the new, which is rendered to the _Wanku Tanku_. The Christians are universally distinguished from the pagans, as being worshippers of Wakan Tanku, or as we speak, the Great Spirit.

One word more by way of introduction. It is true of all the Dakota gods, or wakans, that they are male and female, are subject to the same laws of propagation under which men and animals exist, and are mortal. They are not thought of as being eternal, except it may be by succession.

DAKOTA GODS.

THE ONKTEHI.

It seems to be proper to allow this wakan object to take the precedence in our arrangement, as he does really in respectability. The literal signification of the name is probably lost, though it may, perhaps, signify extraordinary vital energies.

In their external form, the Onktehi are said to resemble the ox, only that they are of immense proportions. This god has power to extend his horns and tail so as to reach the skies. These are the organs of his power. The dwelling place of the male is in the water, and the spirit of the female animates the earth. Hence, when the Dakota seems to be praying, chanting or offering sacrifices to the water or to the earth, it is to this family of the gods that the worship is rendered. They address the male as grandfather, and the female as grandmother. Hence, also, it is probably, that the bubbling springs of water are called the “breathing places of the wakan.”

Though not the same in form, and though destitute of the trident, the horse, and the dolphin, yet, because he rules in the watery worlds as Neptune did in the Mediterranean sea, it may not be out of place to denominate him the Neptune of the Dakotas.

This god has power to issue from his body a wakan influence which is irresistible even by the superior gods. This missive influence is termed _tonwan_, which word will frequently recur as we proceed. This power is common to all the Taku-Wakan. This tonwan influence, it is claimed, is infused into each medicine-sack which is used in the medicine dance.

One of these gods, it is believed, dwells under the Falls of St. Anthony, in a den of awful dimensions, and which is constructed of iron.

A little to the left of the road leading from Fort Snelling to Minnehaha, in sight of the fort, is a hill which is used, at present, as a burial place. This hill is known to the Dakotas as “Taku wakan tipi,” the dwelling place of the gods. It is believed that one of this family of divinities dwells there.

Not many years since, at the breaking up of the ice in the Mississippi river, it gorged and so obstructed the channel between the falls and Fort Snelling, that the water in a few hours rose very high. When the channel was opened by pressure, of course, the rush of water “carried all before it.” A cabin which stood on the low bank under the falls, was carried away with a soldier in it, who was never heard of afterwards. It is universally believed by the worshippers of the god in question, that the occurrence was caused by one of these gods passing down the river, who took the soldier for his evening meal, as they often feast on human spirits—_wicanagi_.

On the morning of July 4, 1851, at Traverse des Sioux, Robert Hopkins, a missionary of the American board to the Dakotas was drowned in the Minnesota river. It was the general belief and talk among the Dakotas, who were acquainted with the facts, that this god destroyed his life and ate his soul—nagi—because he had spoken against his worship in the medicine-dance.

It is related that as some Indians were once passing through Lake Pepin, they suddenly found themselves aground in the middle of the lake. Their god had risen to the surface, and they were lifted from the water on his back! Instantly they were enveloped in clouds, and a terrific tempest arose which chilled them with fear. Eagerly they offered their prayers and sacrifices to their venerable grandfather, when the wakan monster began “slowly to beat his drum the sound of which was the present thunder, while his eyes glistened like two moons. Soon the blows fell quicker and lighter, and the god chanted as follows:

“Wakan de homni, waye.
Wakan de homni waye.
Tipi de wankahe waye.
Wakan de homni waye.
Tipi de wankahe waye.
Wakan de homni waye.”

TRANSLATION.

I whirled this wakan.
I whirled this wakan.
I demolished this tent.
I whirled this wakan.
I demolished this tent.
I whirled this wakan.

As the chant ceased, a calm succeeded, and one Indian with his wife, found himself safe and tranquil on the shore, but his companions had all perished. From that time he was a friend of this divinity, and was honored with the name of ONKTEHI-DUTA.”

Another chant of this god, may, with propriety, have a place here, because it is often used in the medicine-dance, and indicates the character of the god in the estimation of his worshippers:

“Mde hdakinyan wakanyan munka.
Mde hdakinyan wakanyan munka.
He taku nagi knayan, niyake wata nunwe.”

TRANSLATION.

I hie mysteriously across the lake.
I hie mysteriously across the lake.
It is that decoying some soul, I may eat him alive.

The medicine-feast and the medicine-dance, have been received from this god, and the chants above are much used in both.

The sacrifices which are required by them, are the soft down of the swan rouged with vermilion, deer skins, tobacco, dogs, medicine-feasts and medicine-dances.

Their subordinates are the serpent, lizard, frog, ghosts, owl and eagle. These all obey their will. The Onktehi made the earth and men, and gave the Dakotas the medicine-sack, and also prescribed the manner in which some of those pigments must be applied, which are daubed over the bodies of his votaries in the medicine-dance, and on the warrior when he goes into action. They are believed to possess a wakan and an amuletic power.

Among all the myriads of the Dakota gods, there are none more respectable, or more respected, than the one above mentioned.

MEDICINE DANCE.

The wakan dance is represented as having been received from the family of gods above considered.

The onktehi, immediately after the production of the earth and men, to promote his own worship among them, gave to the Indians the medicine sack, and instituted the medicine dance. He ordained that the sack should consist of the skin of the otter, the raccoon, the weazel, the squirrel, the loon, one variety of fish, and of serpents. It was also ordained that the sack should contain four species of medicines, of wakan qualities, which should represent fowls, medicinal herbs, medicinal trees, and quadrupeds. The down of the female swan represents the first and may be seen at the time of the dance, inserted in the nose of the sack. Grass roots represent the second, bark from the root of trees the third, and hair from the back or head of a buffalo, the fourth. These are carefully preserved in the sack.

From this combination proceeds a wakan influence so powerful, that no human being, unassisted, can resist it.

At the institution of the dance, the god prepared a tent, four square, opening towards the east, with an extended court in front, and selecting four men for initiation, proceeded to instruct and prepare them for the reception of the mysteries. The rules of conduct which he gave them, were that “they should honor and revere the medicine sack, honor all who should belong to the dance, make frequent medicine feasts, refrain from theft, not listen to birds, (slander) and female members should not have a plurality of husbands.” The sum of the good promised to the faithful, was “honor from the members of the institution, frequent invitations to the feast, abundance of fowl, with supernatural assistance to consume it, and long life here, with a red dish and spoon in the life to come.”