Chapter XV: Part 2: , 1891, p. 225, p. 234, etc. Major Forsyth calls him White (1)

Bustard. However this may be, it is certain that there was a chief of the name of Mahgossau, who was called Old Bustard, and for many years known to the whites by the latter designation. For an account of the stabbing of this chief in a whisky-bout, in the summer of 1820, see letter of Lawrence Taliaferro, Indian agent at St. Peters, dated Aug. 5th, 1820, in Minn. Hist. Coll., II. Part 2, 1864, 2d ed. 1881, p. 104.

[II-4] Setting camp close to a small stream which falls in on Pike's left, and which has acquired great celebrity for its pretty little water-fall. For this is no other than the Minnehaha. It is a wonder Pike missed Minnehaha falls; or that, if he was informed of them, he did not take the trouble to go less than a mile up the stream to see so pretty a spectacle. About 2½ m. from Fort Snelling, on the road to Minneapolis, the stream spills over the bluff, with as clear a descent as water ordinarily makes from the nozzle of a spout. The picturesque features of this place may be imagined, or easily inspected by ordinary tourist travel; the poetical and sentimental are well developed by Longfellow in Hiawatha; the hydrographic are a creek 5 yards wide, falling 43 feet in an unbroken parabolic curve. This was formerly plain Brown's cr. and Brown's fall; Nicollet named the stream Cascade cr.; but it will doubtless always be best known by the name which Longfellow transferred from its original to a new application, to suit the exigencies of verse. This stream is the discharge of Lake Minnetonka. In its course it receives the outlet of a chain of lakes from the W., called Bass (modern), Calhoun (Nicollet), and Harriet (Nicollet); nearer the falls is a set of smaller lakes, whose modern names are Diamond, Pearl, Duck, Mother, Amelia, and Rice (latter, the Lake Ann of times when Fort Snelling was Fort St. Anthony, an expansion of Brown's cr. itself).

[II-5] The rapids Pike thus ascends to the falls, and the comparative characters of the two gorges, of the Mississippi and Minnesota respectively, which unite at Fort Snelling, indicate that in prehistoric time the falls were located about the position of the fort. But there has been no natural recession within the brief historic period--merely a momentary flash on the screen of geologic duration. The most marked alteration of the falls that we know of was the accidental result of an unintended interference by man. This happened from the bursting of a log-boom. "Behind the boom were thousands of logs two or three feet across and twelve feet long. These descending by the fall probably acquired a velocity of not less than 64 feet a second, and striking endwise on the débris of the hard copping rock pulverized it so that the undermining of the soft sand rock which this débris protected went on with great rapidity," Warren, Ex. Doc. No. 57, 1866-7, p. 19. On July 5th, 1880, the Minn. Hist. Soc. celebrated the bi-centennial of the discovery of the falls, and there is no question that they were first seen of white men by the two companions of Accault within a few hours of July 5th, 1680, if not by the light of that very day. The occasion was a buffalo-hunt down river from the great Sioux town on Lake Buade (Mille Lacs), when the Indians brought the Picard and the priest (two of their three prisoners) along. The falls were named by Hennepin Sault de S^t. Antoine de Padoü (so map, 1683) "in gratitude for the favors done me by the Almighty through the intercession of that great saint whom we had chosen patron and protector of all our enterprises," as Shea's tr. Hennep., 1880, p. 200, puts it. What these favors were is not evident in the light of history; according to Hennepin's own relation, God's gracious designs, whatever they may have been, were effectually disconcerted by the Sioux, who took this slavish son of superstition by the nape of the neck and otherwise subjected him to dire indignities; while as to the monk Anthony, that Franciscan was born at Lisbon, Aug. 15th, 1195, died at Padua, June 13th, 1231, and there is not a scintilla of evidence that he did anything whatever subsequent to this latter date. We might laugh off even so glaring an anachronism as a mere theological pleasantry which deceives no one, were it not for the injustice it does to La Salle, who furnished the sinews of war for Accault's, Auguelle's, and Hennepin's campaign, and was the only person who patronized their trip, saving the said Sioux, who turned it into a personally conducted tour like our modern Cook's. "Saut St. Antoine" appears on Franquelin's map, 1688. The Sioux called these falls Minirara, the laughing water, whence Minnehaha. In Dakotan _ira_ means to laugh, and the reduplicated form _irara_ means to laugh much or often; but _ira_ is compounded of _i_, the mouth, and _ra_, to curl; and in its application to the falls _rara_, which is simply _ra_ reduplicated, should be translated curling and not laughing waters. Ungeographical transfer of Minnehaha to Brown's falls is simply poetical license. The Chip. name was Kakabikah, alluding to the severed rock. Hennepin calls the falls "something very astonishing," indeed "terrible," _more suo crasso_, and exaggerated the descent of waters to 50 or 60 feet. Carver brings him to book about this, and reduces the height to 30 feet. Pike's figures are very close indeed, and his description is the most accurate we had in 1810; Long makes the height practically the same, but Pike's breadth of 627 yards was reduced by Say and Calhoun in 1823 to 594. In view of these good measurements it is surprising that Schoolcraft elevates the falls to 40 feet perpendicular, and narrows the width to 227 yards. He was a man of great ability and still greater industry, whose acquirements were extensive and varied; yet he must be taken warily, for there is many a loose screw in his handiwork, and no structure is stronger than its weakest joint. The trouble with Schoolcraft is two-fold; he tried to cover too much ground to go over it thoroughly, and never emerged from the penumbra of that same theological occultation which kept Hennepin's wits in total eclipse. The natural beauty of this cataract was not destined to be a thing of joy forever; one's emotions, on beholding it now, are those that might be aroused by any mill-tail of similar dimensions. But the new beauty of utility has been conferred by human skill and ingenuity in utilizing the vast water-power, to which Minneapolis measurably owes her matchless progress and present opulence; pop. 1870, 13,000; 1880, 47,000; 1885, 129,000; now or lately, 220,000; thus surpassing the 190,000 of her elder sister, St. Paul--in fact becoming the alter ego of the wonderful pair. Considering the rapid building up of the fair interurban district, and consequently the absorption of respective suburbs into mutualities, it is logical to infer the complete Siamization of the splendid twins, and a clutch at the laurels of Chicago or New York. By that time such scenes as the Mississippi has here transferred to the canvas of human art will be shifted to the Great Falls of the Missouri, where history will repeat itself in another magnificent metropolis. Everything begins in watery elements; the force of falling water controls the course of empire; and the conversion of gravitational potentialities into electrical potencies realizes dreams of destiny, without the intercession of saints or the interference of God.

[II-6] Decidedly less than this; it is only 18-20 m. by river or rail from Minneapolis to Anoka, which Pike does not reach till to-morrow night; to-day's camp between Casey's isls. and Coon cr., in Anoka Co. if on the right, in Hennepin Co. if on the left. The three rapids he passed raised him from 792 to 808 feet above sea-level; one of them is known as Fridley's bar, 5 m. above Minneapolis, 1½ m. below Durnam's isl. He had made the usual portage of the falls on the right-hand side (left bank); and soon after decamping this morning he passed on his left Bassett's cr., which runs through the city, or recently did so--what disposition may have since been made of it I do not know. This was formerly called Falls cr., as by Nicollet, who maps it in connection with his Lake of the Isles and two other sheets. Either this or the next above on the same side is also traced on Pike's map, without name. This next one is Shingle cr., called Omini Wakan cr. by Nicollet and by Owen; it comes in on the left a mile or more below Fridley's bar. Half a mile above Durnam's isl., and on the right, is Rice or Manomin cr., which Nicollet calls Ottonwey r., and connects with Mde Wakanton l. Pike also traces this one, but by no name. R. R. station Fridley is near its mouth. (See further under Fridley, in the index.)

[II-7] About 8 m., to Anoka, seat of that county, a logging town of 6,000 pop., at mouth of Rum r. Pike first passed Coon cr., right, and the most difficult rapids he went up are those named for the same intelligent and ablutionary quadruped, _Procyon lotor_. Coon or Racoon cr. was formerly known as Peterah cr. Wanyecha (now Elm) cr. falls in on the left, slightly below Rum r. The latter is a notable stream, being the main discharge of Mille Lacs, and as such having acquired a long history. Carver called it Rum r.: "in the little tour I made about the Falls [of St. A.], after traveling 14 m. by the side of the Mississippi, I came to a river nearly 20 yards wide which ran from the north east, called Rum River," he says, p. 45, ed. 1796. This was Nov. 19th, 1767, and the river has oftenest been so designated ever since. But here is a place where the involuntary exploration which the Sioux forced on Accault's party comes in, and the Hennepinian canonical calendar is obtruded as usual, making the following trouble:

"Eight leagues above St. Anthony of Padua's falls on the right, you find the river of the Issati or Nadoussiou [Sioux], with a very narrow mouth, which you can ascend to the north for about 70 leagues to Lake Buade or of the Issati [Mille Lacs] where it rises. We gave this river the name of St. Francis," Shea's Henp., tr. 1880, p. 201. In French the name was R. de St. François: so Henp., map, 1683; on Franquelin's, 1688, it is "Riviere des Francois ou des Sioux," which turns it over from the saint to the French nation, possibly less saintly on the whole--that is, unless Franquelin intended to cover St. Francis de Sales, St. Francis d'Assisi, and St. Francis de Paola, or unless _des_ be a mis-engravement for _de S_. But Franquelin's earlier map, 1683 or 1684, has only R. des François, which is there connected with R. de la Madelaine (St. Croix r.) by R. du Portage, which latter stands for present Snake r., a branch of the St. Croix. De L'Isle's map, 1703, avoids any such question by turning the river entirely over to the Sioux; he letters R. de Mendeouacanion, _i. e._, Mdewakantonwan or Gens du Lac. A question affecting the identification of St. Francis with Rum came up in Carver's time, and is still mooted. Carver says, _ed. cit._ p. 45: "Reached the River St. Francis, near 60 miles above the Falls. To this river Father Hennipin gave the name," etc. He reached it Nov. 21st, 1687. This is the stream next _above_ Rum r. on the same side, now best known as Elk r. But Pike's map letters "Leaf R. or S^t. Francis of Carver & Henepen"; Long has it S^t. Francis r.; even Nicollet gives Wichaniwa or St. Francis. Prof. N. H. Winchell remarks, Hist. Sketch Expl. and Surv. Minn., 4to, p. 15: "On modern maps the name of St. Francis is applied to the next stream above the Rum, and that may have been the river to which Hennepin referred in his journal, since by a portage the route by it to lake Buade is much less than the course by the Rum river, and the Indians may have followed that route." I quite agree with my friend the professor that the Sioux who took charge of Hennepin's "explorations," in spite of all the saints on the calendar, may have brought him that way from Mille Lacs to the Mississippi; but the question is not by what river he came; the question is, Which river did he call R. de St. François and map by this name? To me Hennepin makes it perfectly clear that he meant Rum r. Thus he fixes it 8 leagues = 23⅓ m. above the falls, which is much closer to the actual position of Rum r. than such a befogged geographer often comes; item, he makes his St. François r. come from Mille Lacs, as Rum r. does and the other one does not (at least not uninterruptedly); item, his alternative names, r. of the Issati or Nadoussiou, point directly to Rum r.; item, for a clincher, Hennepin's map letters R. de St. François precisely along the whole course of Rum r. from the Mississippi to Lac Buade, _and traces the other river too_, without any name. You seldom find a case clearer than this seems to me to be. Carver was simply mistaken in identifying Hennepin's St. Francis with the other river instead of with his own Rum r.; and this malidentification on Carver's part seems to have given later writers an unconscious bias in the wrong direction; Pike makes the same mistake further on in this book. The strongest counter-argument to my view is that I differ with Nicollet in this case. It is always unsafe to disagree with that model of caution and precision; but I must venture to do so in this instance. For the rest, add to the synonyms of Rum r. the aboriginal name Iskode Wabo, as given by Nicollet, and the variants of this phrase; also, R. de l'Eau de Vie of Pike; also, Missayguani-sibi and Brandy r. of Beltrami. F. _eau de vie_ is obviously the explanation of the "Audevies Cr." of Lewis and Clark's map, 1814, though the stream thus designated looks to my eye too low down for Rum r. The source of this river is noted beyond, where the case of Mille Lacs comes up.

[II-8] The curious word "brelaw," elsewhere "brelau," which we owe to Pike, is a corruption of F. _blaireau_, badger. This, of course, originally denoted the European badger, _Meles taxus_, but was easily transferred to the generically and specifically different American badger, _Taxidea americana_. Other forms of similar perversity are braro, brarow, brairo, braroca, praro, prarow, etc. See L. and C., ed. 1893, p. 64. Pike's original editor of 1807 had _blaireau_, correctly, but Pike himself seldom got any F. word or phrase exactly right.

[II-9] Less than this, as Crow r. is not yet passed, though Pike is not much short of that point. There is little to note: pass Cloquet or Clouquet isl.; camp at head of Goodwin's isl. or foot of Dayton rapids; a small body of water to the right called L. Itaska, not to be confounded with L. Itasca! At or near the mouth of Crow r. Pike leaves both Hennepin and Anoka cos.; he then has Wright on his left and Sherburne on his right. Dayton, Hennepin Co., is at the mouth of Crow r. The crossing there was called Slater's ferry.

[II-10] What Pierre Rousseau called a "prairie mole" was the pocket-gopher of this region, _Thomomys talpoides_. This was first made known to science by Dr. John Richardson in his paper entitled "Short Characters of a few Quadrupeds Procured on Capt. Franklin's late Expedition," published in the Zoölogical Journal, III. No. 12, Jan.-Apr. 1828, pp. 516-520. He named it _Cricetus talpoides_, taking this specific name from its mole-like appearance, and afterwards called it _Geomys talpoides_, in the Fauna Boreali-Americana, I. 1829, p. 204. Among the peculiarities of the animal, and indeed of the whole family to which it belongs, are the strictly subterranean habits, and the possession of large cheek-pouches external to the mouth and lined with fur inside: see Coues and Allen, Monographs N. A. Rodentia, 1877, p. 623. The common mole of the United States, from which Pike saw that this gopher was very different, is _Scalops aquaticus_, of the mammalian order _Insectivora_ (not _Rodentia_).

[II-11] To a position about halfway between Elk r., Sherburne Co., and Monticello, Wright Co.--say Baker's ferry, at head of Dimick's or Demick's isl., and compare note at date of Apr. 9th. On making Dayton rapids Pike passed the mouth of Crow r., which falls in on the left above the town and below Dayton isl. This river rises in Green l., Kamdiyohi Co., and by various affluents elsewhere, flows about E. through Meeker and Wright, and then turns N. E., separating the latter from Hennepin Co. (This must not be confounded with Crow Wing r., much higher up the Mississippi.) It was discovered by Carver Nov. 20th, 1766, and by him called Goose r. Beltrami chose Rook's r. Nicollet has Karishon or Crow r. This river needed an ornithologist to keep from mixing up those birds so! Besides the three bird-names, Beltrami produced Poanagoan-sibi or Sioux r., as he says it was called by the "Cypowais." Elk River, 41 m. from St. Paul by rail, pop. 1,500, is the seat of Sherburne Co. It is situated immediately below the mouth of Elk r. This is the stream charted by Pike with the legend "Leaf R. or S^t. Francis of Carver & Henepen": see for this case note 7. Pike also calls it R. des Feuilles. Allen had St. Francis or Parallel r. Beltrami said Kapitotigaya-sibi or Double r. Nicollet's terms Wichaniwa and St. Francis belong to the main (East) fork of Elk r., now commonly called the St. Francis; he names the other fork Kabitawi (which is the same word that Beltrami uses in another form). Above Elk River is Otsego, Wright Co., with Orano's (Jameson and Wilson) isls. below and Davis isl. above it.

[II-12] To vicinity of Monticello, Wright Co. In the course of the hard water stemmed to-day are Spring rapids and Battle rapids, each of which Pike marks "Ripple" on his map; the former is first above Dimick's isl.; the latter is above Brown's isl. and Houghton's flats; and the name no doubt commemorates the Indian fight of which Pike speaks. The rise represented by the hard water is about 25 feet, bringing the Expedition up to 898 or 900 feet above sea-level. Nicollet's Migadiwin cr. falls in on the left, just above Monticello; this is now known as Otter cr. Boom isl. is just below the ferry at Monticello.

[II-13] To some obscure point about one-third of the way from Monticello to Clear Water. It is past Lane's and Cedar isls., and above Cedar rapids, which Pike marks "Ripple" on his map (the third such mark above his Leaf r.), and below Silver cr.; but I cannot stick a pin in the map, as there is no named place in the immediate vicinity; nearest probably R. R. station Lund, Wright Co.

[II-14] Vicinity of Clear Water r., a sizable stream which separates Wright from Stearns Co.; Kawakomik or Clear Water r. of Nicollet; Kawakonuk r. of Owen; Kawanibio-sibi of Beltrami; and qu. Little Lake r. of Carver's map? The whole distance from Monticello to town of Clear Water at the mouth of this river is only 19 m., and thence to St. Cloud, 14 m. = 33 m. for which Pike allows 12 + 20 + 3 + 16½ = 51½ m. This is over his average excess, and the case is complicated by the position assigned for the wintering station of the persons named on the 10th. Pike lays down Clear Water r., and his map legends, a little _below_ this, "Wintering Grounds of M^r. Potier, 1797; & M^r. Dickson, 1805-1806." The names do not correspond exactly with the text, and as the wintering ground of the text was not passed till the 10th, when Pike was certainly above the Clear Water, this wintering ground is simply legended too low on the map. Compare Apr. 7th, beyond, when Pike reaches the post of Mr. Dickson and the other person, there called Paulier, in one day's voyage from his stockade on Swan r. As there explained, the post in question was only 4 m. below the head of Pike's Beaver isls., thus in the vicinity of St. Augusta, while Pike's station of the 8th was at or near Clear Water. To reach this town and river Pike passes Bear isl., Smiler's rapids, and on his left two small streams. The lower one of these is Silver cr., coming from a small lake between Silver Creek Siding and a place called Hasty. The upper one of these is Bend cr. of Nicollet (discharge of Fish l.), so named from falling into what was a remarkable bend of the Mississippi, now a cut-off with a large (Boynton's) island. This place is 3 m. below Clear Water, in Sect. 6, T. 122, R. 26, 5th M.

[II-15] St. Cloud, seat of Stearns Co.; population 8,000; East St. Cloud opp.; bridges; railroads converging by five tracks; rapids of 30,000 horse-power, dammed and utilized. This is a notable place, likely to become more so. The whole descent from the upper part of the town of Sauk Rapids to the lower part of St. Cloud, a distance of some 5 m., is 24 feet; of which Sauk rapids proper fall 17 or 18 feet in the course of a mile. Pike camps at the foot of these. "Grand Rapids" of the above text are mapped by Pike as "Big Rapids," the term also used by Lewis and Clark; they are Nicollet's Second rapids. When I last saw the place it was not easy to discern the natural course of the river, it was so jammed with logging-booms. The "more than 20 islands" which Pike passed to-day are in part included in the cluster called the Archipelago by Beltrami, now known as the Thousand isls., smallest and most numerous in the expansion of the river just below St. Cloud and above Mosquito rapids; the latter, not bad, are between a large island on the right and a creek that makes in on the left (S. 36, T. 124, R. 28, 5th M.). A short distance below these islands, probably not far from Mosquito rapids, and thus somewhere about opposite St. Augusta, was the above-named wintering place.

[II-16] The whole distance by river from St. Cloud to Pike rapids, where he stops to build his winter-quarters, is only 33 m. He makes this 8 + 12½ + 29 + 17 + 5 = 71½! As there is no possible mistake about the place we have brought him to, or about that where we shall drop him, an error of over 100 per cent. is evident in the mileage of the 11th-15th. The text gives but one named point (his Clear r.) to consider for the required adjustment; but there are seven definite named rivers in this course and several rapids; so that we can check him at every few miles, and only need to cut down his mileage a little more than one-half. Camp of the 11th ("8" = 4 m.) is a little above the mouth of Sauk r. On heading Sauk rapids, Pike passes the town of Sauk Rapids, seat of Benton Co., 75 m. by rail from St. Paul. It is a smaller place than St. Cloud, pop. 1,200, but enjoys the same 30,000 horse-power of the 18 feet to the mile fall of the Miss. r. Sauk r. falls in from the W., opposite the upper part of the town; Pike elsewhere calls it R. aux Saukes, and maps it as Sack r.; so does Long, though he calls the Indians Sakawes and Sakawis: Nicollet's map has Osakis r.; other variants of the name are Sac, Sacque, Saque, Sawk, Saukee, Sawkee, Osaukee, Osauki, etc. The most elaborate way of spelling Sauk that I have found is Sassassaouacotton. The form Ozaukee is adopted by Verwyst, Wis. Hist. Soc., XII. 1892, p. 396, where it is said that this and Sauk are corrupted from _ozagig_, meaning those who live at a river's mouth.

[II-17] About 6 m., to a position near the mouth of Little Rock r., above Watab rapids and the town of that name in Benton Co. Pike first passes on his right, about a mile from camp, a small stream whose name has not reached me (it empties in the S. W. ¼ of Sect. 15, T. 36, R. 31, 4th M.). In another mile he passes Little Sauk r., a stream like its namesake, but small. This is called Watab r. by Nicollet, Owen, and Brower, Wadub r. by Schoolcraft, Wattah r. by Allen. This little river was formerly important as the most tangible part of the shadowy Sioux-Chippewa boundary of 1825. Starting from the Chippewa r., the line cut across most rivers, at odd places the savages no doubt understood, but geographers never did. It crossed the St. Croix at "Standing Cedars" below the falls, struck near the head of Coon cr., crossed Rum r. at or near its principal forks, hit a "Point of Woods" somewhere, crossed Leaf (Elk) r. low down, and reached the Mississippi opp. the mouth of the Little Sauk, _which it followed up_, and then went N. W., passed past Swan and Little Elk rivers to the watershed of the Red River of the North, which it followed approx. N. to the Otter Tail and Leech l. traverse. (See Allen's map.) The "narrow rocky place" passed is Watab rapids, and the town of Watab is just above these, on the creek to the right, 5 m. above Sauk Rapids. Sauk and Watab are respectively the "2nd" and "3rd" rapids of Nicollet's map. The word _watab_ means _spruce_; or, rather, as follows: "The small roots of the spruce tree afford the _wattap_, with which the bark [of birchen canoes] is sewed; ... Bark, some spare _wattap_, and gum, are always carried in each canoe," Alex. Henry, Travels, 1761-66, N. Y., 8vo, 1809, p. 14. In this matter we also have the support of the highest possible authority; for the Century Dictionary, representing the acme of English scholarship, defines _watap_ or _watapeh_ as "the long slender roots of the white spruce, _Picea alba_, which are used by canoe-makers in northwestern North America for binding together the strips of birch-bark." _Cf._ Baraga's Otchipwe Dict., 1880, Pt. 2, p. 404, _s. v._ _watab_. Pike charts Watab rapids; see his map, place marked "Ripple," first above his "Little Sack R." This is where his boat sprung a leak, and he did not get much further.

[II-18] Say about 14 m., to a position between Platte r. and Spunk r. Soon after decamping, Pike passed a river he does not mention above, but which he elsewhere names Lake r., and maps conspicuously in connection with a certain small sheet of water he names Elk l. These are now known as Little Rock r. and Little Rock l. The stream is laid down by Nicollet with the additional name of Pikwabic r. It falls into a remarkable horseshoe bend of the river, which has not cut off an island since the charts I use were drawn. Opposite this bend there is a place called Brockway, in Stearns Co. Of Clear r. as above, and also so charted by Pike, Lewis and Clark, and Allen, Pike elsewhere says that it "is a beautiful little stream, of about 80 yards in width, and heads in some swamps and small lakes on which the Sauteaux of Lower Red Cedar Lake and Sandy Lake frequently come to hunt." It is Pekushino r. of Nicollet, Bekozino-sibi and Pines Tail r. of Beltrami, now commonly called Platte r., and occasionally Flat r., as on an 1850 map of Minnesota before me; it heads in the region about Mille Lacs. At the place where the railroad crosses Platte or Clear r. is Royalton, in Bellevue township, Morrison Co. One-third of a mile below its mouth is the line between Stearns and Morrison cos., on first section-line above town-line 126-7. One of the two rivers here noted is Cold r. of Carver, 1767; but I am uncertain which one. McNeal's ferry over the Mississippi is about a mile below the mouth of the Platte.

[II-19] Making the requisite adjustment of this, we set Pike down in the N. E. ¼ of Sect. 29, T. 128, R. 29, 5th M.; this will give us 3 m. to fill the bill of the "five" to-morrow. To-day's itinerary furnishes some nice points which we must determine with precision--not for their intrinsic importance, but for their significance in connection with Pike's winter-quarters. The matter must be attended to here, though the text has not a word about it. But Pike elsewhere speaks of three creeks along here, above his Clear r.=Platte, and below his Pine cr.=Swan r., near which he builds his stockade. Pike's map has four, on the left, beginning above Clear r.: (1) Wolf cr.; (2) a creek; (3) Buffalo cr.; (4) Rocky cr.--all names of his own, none used now. Proceeding up from Platte=Clear r., we have on the left in succession: (1) Spunk r., whose mouth is in the S. E. ¼ of Sect. 22, T. 127, R. 29, 5th M. This is the Wolf cr. of Pike's, item of Lewis and Clark's map, 1814; mapped, no name, Allen; Zakatagana-sibi of Beltrami; Sagatagon or Spunk r. of Nicollet; Spunk brook of various maps. The native name which we have translated means some sort of touchwood or punk, which may be more plentiful hereabouts than elsewhere, or of better quality. (2) A rivulet for which I can find no name, not even on the local maps, and which is too insignificant to appear at all on most maps; Pike's traces it without name. I will call it Maple brook, because it falls in behind Maple isl., in Sect. 17 of the T., R., and M. last said. Maple isl. is sizable, and locally well known; either this or the little round one close by is probably Beltrami's "Island of the Sun." (3) Two Rivers, or Two r., or Twin r., as the next stream is called, which empties about the center of Sect. 8 of the same T., R., and M., hardly a mile above Maple brook. This is the one Pike maps by the name of Buffalo cr.; it is also Buffaloe cr. of Lewis and Clark's map; and the Kanizotygoga of Beltrami. This is a sizable stream, giving name to Two Rivers Township, and does not fall in behind any island. (4) Little Two Rivers, or Two Rivers brook, which falls in about half a mile higher up, in the same Section, behind an island. (5) A nameless and utterly insignificant brook, which falls in at McDougal's eddy, behind an island, in the S. E. ¼ of Sect. 5 of the same T., R., and M. I find it correctly laid down on a Morrison Co. map, on a scale of 2 inches to the mile; but it does not appear on the inch-to-mile charts I mostly follow. (6) Hay cr., which most maps run into Little Two Rivers, but which is quite distinct, with the brook (5) intervening. Hay cr. comes southward along the E. border of Swan River township, turns S. E. across Sect. 31 of T. 128, R. 29, thence enters Sect. 5 of T. 127, R. 29, and falls into the Mississippi behind the three-cornered isl. which there lies opp. some rapids next above McDougal's eddy. The only question seems to be, whether Pike's Rocky cr. is Little Two Rivers or Hay cr.; but after pretty close scrutiny of the country thereabouts, I incline to decide in favor of Little Two Rivers, and could give various reasons for this identification. Pike maps four rapids, in quick succession, above his Rocky cr. Two of these I suppose to be those now known as Blanchard's and McDougal's, both passed on the 14th; a third is surmounted on the 15th, but the fourth finishes Pike's boat-voyage: see next note.

[II-20] Three miles, to camp at the foot of Knife or Pike rapids, W. side of the Mississippi, about the S. border of Sect. 7, T. 128, R. 29, 5th M. These are the 4th or Knife rapids of Nicollet, apparently so called from the narrowness of the two channels into which the river is divided for most of their extent by an island, which is what Pike's text above means by the "two narrow shoots." The designation of Pike rapids is not recent; it occurs on the Allen map pub. 1834, and no doubt this antedates the time that the next creek above Swan r. was named Pike cr., and the township next above Swan River township was named Pike Creek township. The ascent is 10 or 11 feet to the mouth of Swan r.; and this is 4 m. below the city of Little Falls. Little Falls is given as 115 m. by the river from Minneapolis, and as 105 m. by rail from St. Paul (N. P. R. R.). We know where Pike sleeps to-night within a few rods, and shall be able to locate his stockade with a "probable error" of no yards, feet, or inches.

[II-21] "Lieu^t. Pikes, Block House or Post, for the Winter 1805-1806" is legended on the pub. map, and marked by a zigzag line snug up under his Pine cr. (now Swan r.). The orig. MS. map, now on file in the Engineer Office of the War Dept., is large enough to show the exact spot, on which is delineated a stockade 36 feet square, with a blockhouse on the N. W. and another on the S. E. corner of the structure. Notwithstanding such precise indicia, the site has been vaguely stated by various authors, and even shifted down to Two Rivers by so careful and usually correct a writer as my friend the Hon. J. V. Brower, who is clearly in error in stating that "the south branch of Two Rivers was named Pine creek, and the other Second creek," Minn. Hist. Coll., VII., Mississippi R. and its Source, 8vo., Minneapolis, 1893, p. 126. This is simply an _obiter dictum_, by inadvertence. I had satisfied myself of the true site within a few rods, when I first learned from Prof. N. H. Winchell, State Geologist of Minnesota, that traces of the building had been discovered by Judge Nathan Richardson, Mayor of Little Falls, Minn. On writing to this gentleman, I received a prompt reply, as follows:

LITTLE FALLS, MINN., Feb. 24th, 1894.

_Elliott Coues, Esq., Washington, D. C._

MY DEAR SIR: Yours of the 21st inst. is received making
inquiry about my discovering the location of a fort built
by Zebulon M. Pike in the fall of 1805. The location is on
the West bank of the Mississippi River on Government
Subdivision described as Lot No. 1, Sec. No. 7, in Township
No. 128 North, of Range No. 29 West, of the 5th Principal
Meridian, near the S. E. corner of said Lot No. 1, and near
80 rods south from the mouth of Swan river and four miles
south of this city. I settled at this place in 1855. I
wrote a history of this county in 1876. Then in 1880 I
revised it. Before writing the revision in 1880 I looked
over the books in our State Historical Society, where I
found an account of Pike's Expedition up into this region
of country that year. His description of the location was
so plain and explicit that I had no trouble in finding it.
At that time there were no logs or timber left. The place
was plainly marked by a pile of stone, about the size of an
ordinary haycock, of which the chimney or fire-place was
built. The fort was built of logs. The bottom layer was
imbedded about one-half their size into the ground when
built. The groove in the earth showed very plain when I
first visited the place. As near as I could judge the
building was 40 feet square. Built just on the brink of a
slight elevation, as described by Mr. Pike in his
narrative. Afterward in speaking about the location of
Pike's Fort to an old settler, Samuel Lee, now residing at
Long Prairie in this State, he told me that he had been at
the place many years before, and when he was first at the
place the bottom tier of logs were still there. I visited
the spot two years ago for the purpose of getting one of
the stones that were used to build the fire-place, and took
one that will weigh about 75 pounds, which I am keeping as
a relic. The pile of stone is getting scattered about; the
ground has never been cleared and broken up, but is used as
a pasture. Unless something durable is put up soon to mark
the location all trace of it will be obliterated. This
country commenced to settle with farmers in 1850, and has
become quite well settled up. I will say before closing
that the rapids at the foot of which he built the fort bear
the name of Pike rapids, so named in honor of him. I will
send you a copy of our extra paper [Daily Transcript, of
Little Falls], issued the 1st of January. If I have omitted
anything that you may wish to know write me again.

Yours very respectfully,
[Signed] N. RICHARDSON.

Judge Richardson is entitled to the credit of recovering and making known the spot in modern times. The Hist. Up. Miss. Vall., pub. Minneap. 1881, treating Morrison Co. in Chap. cxxxviii, has on p. 586 a short notice of the location, presumably upon Judge Richardson's data, as the publishers' preface makes general acknowledgments of indebtedness to him. In Oct., 1886, the place was visited by Mr. T. H. Lewis, at the instance of Mr. A. J. Hill of St. Paul, and through the friendly attentions of the latter I am put in possession of extracts and tracings from Mr. Lewis' notebook, made on the spot at the date said, when he found the extant remains. Mr. Lewis identified the site upon his own observations, not being at the time informed of the earlier discovery. So interesting a spot should be permanently marked before all traces of it are obliterated, and I hope Judge Richardson will interest himself to see that this is done. It need not be an expensive or elaborate monument; probably the stones of the old chimney and fire-place, now scattered about, would answer the purpose if they were solidly piled up.

POSTSCRIPT.--_Little Falls, Minn._, _Sept._ 8th, 1894.--I have this day visited the spot in person, accompanied by Judge Richardson and Mrs. Coues. We have piled up the rocks in a conspicuous heap. I do not recognize any trace of the original woodwork, or of the ground-plan of the structure, except the place of the chimney; but the site is unquestionable. To reach it, you go down the main road from Little Falls, about 4 m. along the W. side of the Miss. r., crossing Pike cr. and next Swan r.; a few rods beyond the latter, turn to the left into Simon Kurtzman's cornfield, through bars, and keep on due E. to the river. You will see the cairn we have made in the following position: Sect. 7, T. 128, R. 29, 5th M., in S. E. corner of Lot No. 1, 80 rods E. of Simon Kurtzman's house, about 80 rods S. S. E. of the mouth of Swan r., near the E. border of the cornfield, 30 paces back from the brink of the Mississippi, 50 yards S. by E. of a lone pine tree 50 feet high, on a flat piece of high ground in a copse of scattered scrub oaks, overgrown with brush and weeds. Letter on the subject over my signature in Little Falls Daily Transcript, Sept. 10, 1894, urging the erection of a monument.

[II-22] Or windshake--not that the canoe foundered in the wind, but that there was a flaw in the wood of which it was built, such unsoundness of timber being called a windshock or windshake.

[II-23] For Dickson's trading-house of 1805-6 see note beyond, date of Apr. 7th. Dickson's name frequently recurs in Pike, but I think never once in full. Robert Dickson was an Englishman who began to trade with the Sioux as early as 1790, and acquired great renown in the early history of the country. The following occurs in Minn. Hist. Coll., I. 2d ed. 1872, p. 390: "Five years after Pike's visit he espoused the British cause, and took a prominent part in encouraging the western tribes in hostility against the Americans. Yet he is said to have been very humane to American prisoners, rescuing many from the Indians, and restraining the latter from barbarities and cold-blooded massacres. After the war Dickson, some accounts say, did not resume trade with the Sioux; but he did at least live at Lake Travers as late as 1817, and was charged with alienating the Sioux from the United States, in complicity with Lord Selkirk, who was there establishing his colony on Red river. He was soon after arrested near what is now St. Paul, and taken to St. Louis. He was probably soon released, however, and found his way back to Queenstown in Canada, where he died. Dickson had a Sioux wife and four half-breed children. One of his grandchildren was wife of Joseph Laframboise, a well-known trader at Lac Qui Parle." To this may be added that one of Col. Robert Dickson's half-breed sons was William Dickson, whose name appears here and there in Minnesota annals.

[II-24] There is no such French word as "killeur," which Pike elsewhere renders "killieu," and which appears in the text of 1807 as "killien" and "killein." On consulting the F. text, I. p. 95, I find that the editor says, "Plutôt _tueur rouge_, car le mot killeur n'est pas françois; c'est sans doute un barbarisme échappé à M. Pike." The son of this chief Pike calls "Fils de Killeur Rouge": see Mar. 5th and 8th, 1806, beyond. There is a Canadian French word _pilleur_, pillager, and the Leech Lake Chippewas were known as Pilleurs or Pillagers; but this Killeur was a Sioux chief of the Gens des Feuilles or Leaf Indians, now called Wahpetonwans: see L. and C., ed. 1893, p. 100. Pike translates Killeur by "Eagle"; and this clew to the meaning of the word is carried on by Beltrami, II. p. 207, who has a chief called "Ki-han or Red Quilliou"; _ibid._, p. 224, he speaks of "a bird which the Canadians call _killiou_, and the Indians Wamendi-hi"; _ibid._, p. 307, he says "a plume of _killow_," making an English word of it. Forsyth has "the killiew (thus named from a species of eagle)," in Minn. Hist. Col., III. 1874, p. 154. So _killeur_, etc., is simply a French way of spelling a certain Indian name of the eagle, whose feathers are used for ornament. I once noted this word in the form _khoya_. Riggs' Dak. Dict., 1852, has "_Ḣu-yá_, _n._, the common eagle" (the dotted _h_ a deep surd guttural).

[II-25] Yanktons and Sissetons: see L. and C., ed. 1893, pp. 94, 100.

[II-26] More probably Chien Blanc, or White Dog--unless we could go so far as to suppose he was called by the less polite and less appropriate name of Chienne Blanche.

[II-27] About opp. the mouth of Pine cr. or Swan r., ½ m. above head of Roberts' isl., and on or near the present site of Gregory, Morrison Co. This place is marked as Aitkin's ferry, trading-post, and hotel, on a Minnesota map, pub. Phila., Cowperthwait, 1850; it is about the middle of the southwesternmost section of Little Falls township (Township 40, Range 32, 4th mer.), say 3 m. below the middle of the city of Little Falls. The head of Pike rapids is 1,071 or 1,072 feet above sea-level. Swan r. bends up a little to fall into the Miss. r., so that its mouth is slightly over the S. border of Sect. 6, Township 128, Range 29, 5th mer. There is a flour mill on its S. side, at the bend, half a mile or less from its mouth. Ledoux P. O. is on this stream, a few miles up, in Swan River township, which lies between North Prairie township and Pike Creek township; Swan r. runs over the N. border of it a mile W. of the Mississippi. By whom Pike's Pine cr. was first called Swan r. I do not know, unless it was Nicollet; it is Wabizio-sibi of Beltrami, Wabezi or Swan r. of Nicollet, 1836, Swan r. of Owen and later writers; but Lieut. Allen has it Elk r. on his map, by error.

[II-28] Less than this, to camp on left or E. bank of the Mississippi, in the present city of Little Falls, Morrison Co., probably about the place where is the lower bridge, a few blocks from the Buckman hotel. Painted Rock rapids is now Little falls. A high, small island at the falls divides the river in two channels; it is Rock isl. of Nicollet, now called Mill isl.; some mills are there, and there is the site of the present dam, immediately below the lower bridge. Little Falls is a flourishing place, as towns with a water-power of 35,000 horses may easily be; pop. now or lately 3,000; dam built 1887-8, said to have cost $250,000; two bridges span the river, the upper one for the N. P. R. R., near the large sawmill which stands on the W. bank; chief industry, milling flour and logs; city incorporated 1889; N. Richardson, mayor for five years: see Little Falls Daily Transcript, Industrial ed., Jan. 1st, 1894, large folio, pp. 28, maps and views, price 5c. The Little falls--cataract, not town--are so called by Pike elsewhere in this work; he also says that "the place is called by the French Le Shute de la Roche Peinture," by which we may understand La Chute de la Roche Peinte; his map legends "Painted Rock or Little Falls." Beltrami names the falls Great Rock and Kekebicaugé. As to the "5 miles" of to-day's journey, we may note that the distance is less now than it used to be by the channel, because there was a bend of the river to the E. which is now straightened out. This bend appears on maps of 20 years ago; it is now city ground, and the march of improvement has effected various other changes in the course of the river. When about a mile from this morning's camp, Pike passed a place where the river was fordable, and may be so still; here was the site of Swan River P. O., on the E. bank, in Little Falls township. When a mile further on, he passed the mouth of a creek from the W. which he calls 2nd cr. (on the map "2^d Cr."), and which others have rendered Second cr., though Nicollet and Owen both have it Little Fall cr.; it is now known as Pike cr., and gives name to Pike Creek township. It falls into the Mississippi at the middle of the E. border of Sect. 25, Township 129, Range 30, 5th mer., through the 6th one of the 16 outlots of O. O. Searles, slightly beyond present city limits.

[II-29] To a position at the head of Little Elk rapids, a short distance above the mouth of Little Elk r. This is a sizable stream which comes from the W. through Parker and Randall townships to the S. W. corner of Green Prairie township, touches the N. E. corner of Pike creek township, and then curves a couple of miles to the Mississippi through Sects. 6 and 5, T. 129, R. 29, 5th M. Pike elsewhere notes it with particularity by the name of Elk r. Beltrami says Moska or Mosko and Doe or Bitch r. This last name is a mistaken rendering of R. la Biche or Elk r. of the French--he makes the same singular blunder in the case of Lake Itasca, which he calls Doe or Bitch l., after the French Lac la Biche. The river is the Omoshkos or Elk r. of Nicollet and Owen. It is marked Little Fork cr. on the Minn. map of 1850; and Allen's map makes it Swan r., by an erroneous transposition of names; see note 27 p. 122.

[II-30] From Little Falls to Crow Wing is only 26 m. by the river. Pike does not reach Crow Wing till the 21st, and his party does not get up till the 23d or 24th. Exactly what distance he makes it cannot be said, as mileage is missing some days. He appears to have thought it some 50 or 60 m. Thus the itinerary does not afford data for fixing camps with precision, and hence we can only check him approximately from day to day. The sledge-party does not average 3 m. a day, but Pike himself seems to skirmish about for many more miles--perhaps the excessive mileages represent his own activities, not the actual advance of the Expedition. The average course is due N. On the 12th Conradi shoal and Belle Prairie were passed, to camp in the vicinity of Fletcher cr. Belle Prairie is a comparatively old settlement on the E. bank, founded by Frederick Ayer, a missionary, in 1848; pop. 800. This is only 4½ m. by rail from Little Falls. The town is directly opposite the shoals. These are the Fifth rapid of Nicollet. A small creek comes in opposite them from the W., in Green Prairie township. Fletcher cr. is mapped by Nicollet without name; it is McKinney's r. on the 1850 map of Minn. It falls in from the E. through Sect. 1, T. 41, R. 32, 4th M.

[II-31] In the vicinity of Topeka, a town and station on the N. P. R. R., on the E. bank of the river.

[II-32] Camp of the 14th, 15th, and 16th seems to have been on the W. bank of the river, at the head of Olmsted's bar, and was very likely opp. the point of land in Sect. 15, T. 42, R. 32, 4th M., where one Baker located his trading-house in 1831. It is formally named Pine camp when it is passed on the way down, Mar. 4th, 1806: see that date. Olmsted's bar is the Sixth rapid of Nicollet, at a place where the river expands and contains a cluster of small islands, called The Sirens by Beltrami, II. p. 466.

[II-33] This cache was in the vicinity of present Fort Ripley. The town now so called is on the E. side; railroad; pop. 500. Old Fort Ripley itself is on the W. side, a mile off; some of the buildings still stand. This post, or another in the same place, was once called Fort Gaines; Prairie Percée of the F. intersected the river a little below. The fort is in the N. E. ¼ of Sect. 7, T. 131, R. 29, 5th M., about a half mile below the mouth of Nokasippi r., which falls in from the E. through Sect. 27, T. 43, R. 32, 4th M. This is a considerable stream: Nokasippi and Noka Sipi of Schoolcraft; Nokay r. of Nicollet and of Owen; Nokasele on one of my maps, Nankesele and Nankele on others; Woco-sibi of Beltrami's text, II. p. 466, Wokeosiby and Prophet r. on his map. This hint that the name is a personal one is correct. Noka was a Chippewa, the grandfather of White Fisher or Waubojeeg. "It is from this old warrior and stalwart hunter, who fearlessly passed his summers on the string of lakes which form the head of the No-ka river, which empties into the Mississippi nearly opposite present site of Fort Ripley, that the name of this stream is derived," says W. W. Warren, Minn. Hist. Coll., V. 1885, p. 266. It is mapped by Pike and mentioned by him beyond at date of Mar. 3d, 1806; but he has no name for it. Allen's map gives it as Long r. But the earliest name of the stream I can discover is on Lewis and Clark's map, pub. 1814, where it is called Scrub Oak r., no doubt from the prairie above it, to which Pike gave that name. On reaching ownline 42-3, Pike leaves Morrison for Crow Wing Co., on the right, but still has the former on his left, up to Crow Wing r.

[II-34] To some point probably more than halfway between the Nokasippi and Crow Wing rivers, perhaps not far from the station or siding Albion (St. Paul Div. of N. P. R. R.). It is beyond Lenox, and a little above that creek for which I find no name, but which falls in from the W. through Sect. 24, T. 132, R. 30, 5th M.

[II-35] To a position immediately below the mouth of the Crow Wing r.