Chapter V: Correspondence and Conferences.v-1 (2)

BROTHERS: In speaking to you I speak to brave warriors. It is therefore not my intention to deceive you. Possibly we may meet with some bad people who may wish to do us ill; but if so, we will die together, certain that our fathers, the Americans, will settle with them for our blood.

BROTHERS: I find you have received from your traders English medals and flags. These you must deliver up, and your chiefs who go with me shall receive others from the American government, in their room.

BROTHERS: Traders have no authority to make chiefs; and in doing this they have done what is not right. It is only great chiefs, appointed by your fathers, who have that authority. But at the same time you are under considerable obligations to your traders, who come over large waters, high mountains, and up swift falls, to supply you with clothing for your women and children, and ammunition for your hunters, to feed you, and keep you from perishing with cold.

BROTHERS: Your chiefs should see your traders done justice, oblige your young men to pay their credits, and protect them from insults; and your traders, on their part, must not cheat the Indians, but give them the value of their skins.

BROTHERS: Your father is going to appoint chiefs of his own to reside among you, to see justice done to his white and red children, who will punish those who deserve punishment, without reference to the color of their skin.

BROTHERS: I understand that one of your young men killed an American at Red Lake last year, but the murderer is far off. Let him keep so--send him where we never may hear of him more; for were he here I would be obliged to demand him of you, and make my young men shoot him. My hands on this journey are yet clear of blood--may the Great Spirit keep them so!

BROTHERS: We expect, in the summer, soldiers to come to the St. Peters. Your chiefs who go with me may either come up with them, or some traders who return sooner. They may make their selection.

BROTHERS: Your father finds that the rum with which you are supplied by the traders is the occasion of quarrels, murders, and bloodshed; and that, instead of buying clothing for your women and children, you spend your skins in liquor, etc. He has determined to direct his young warriors and chiefs to prohibit it, and keep it from among you. But I have found the traders here with a great deal of rum on hand. I have therefore given them permission to sell what they have, that you may forget it by degrees, against next year, when none will be suffered to come in the country.

_Art. 11. Speeches, Chippewa Chiefs[V-13] to Pike, at Leech Lake, Feb. 16th, 1806. (Orig. No. 8, pp. 22, 23.)_

_1st. Sucre of Red lake_ (_Wiscoup_).

MY FATHER: I have heard and understood the words of our great father. It overjoys me to see you make peace among us. I should have accompanied you had my family been present, and would have gone to see my father, the great war-chief.

MY FATHER: This medal I hold in my hands I received from the English chiefs. I willingly deliver it up to you. Wabasha's calumet, with which I am presented, I receive with all my heart. Be assured that I will use my best endeavors to keep my young men quiet. There is my calumet. I send it to my father the great war-chief. What does it signify that I should go to see him? Will not my pipe answer the same purpose?

MY FATHER: You will meet with the Sioux on your return. You will make them smoke my pipe, and tell them that I have let fall my hatchet.

MY FATHER: Tell the Sioux on the upper part of the river St. Peters to mark trees with the figure of a calumet, that we of Red Lake who may go that way, should we see them, may make peace with them, being assured of their pacific disposition when we see the calumet marked on the trees.

_2d. The Chief de la Terre of Leech lake_ (_Obigouitte_).

MY FATHER: I am glad to hear that we and the Sioux are now brothers, peace being made between us. If I have received a medal from the English traders, it was not as a mark of rank or distinction, as I considered it, but merely because I made good hunts and paid my debts. Had Sucre been able to go and see our father, the great war-chief, I should have accompanied him; but I am determined to go to Michilimackinac next spring to see my brothers the Americans.

_3d. Geuelle Platte of Leech lake_ (_Eskibugeckoge_).

MY FATHER: My heart beat high with joy when I heard that you had arrived, and that all the nations through which you passed had received and made peace among them.

MY FATHER: You ask me to accompany you to meet our father, the great war-chief. This I would willingly do, but certain considerations prevent me. I have sent my calumet to all the Sauteaux who hunt round about, to assemble to form a war-party; should I be absent, they, when assembled, might strike those with whom we have made peace, and thus kill our brothers. I must therefore remain here to prevent them from assembling, as I fear that there are many who have begun already to prepare to meet me. I present you with the medal of my uncle here present. He received it from the English chiefs as a recompense for his good hunts. As for me, I have no medal here; it is at my tent, and I will cheerfully deliver it up. That medal was given me by the English traders, in consideration of something that I had done; and I can say that three-fourths of those here present belong to me.

MY FATHER: I promise you, and you may confide in my word, that I will preserve peace; that I bury my hatchet; and that even should the Sioux come and strike me, for the first time I would not take up my hatchet; but should they come and strike me a second time, I would dig up my hatchet and revenge myself.

_Art. 12. Extract of a letter, Pike to Robert Dickson, Lower Red Cedar Lake, Feb. 26th, 1806. (Orig. No. 9, pp. 23, 24.)_

Mr. Grant was prepared to go on a trading voyage among the Fols Avoins; but that was what I could not by any means admit of, and I hope that, on a moment's reflection, you will admit the justice of my refusal. For what could be a greater piece of injustice than for me to permit you to send goods, illegally brought into the country, down into the same quarter, to trade for the credits of men who have paid their duties, regularly taken out licenses, and in other respects acted conformably to law? They might exclaim with justice, "What! Lt. Pike, not content with suffering the laws to slumber when it was his duty to have executed them, has now suffered the N. W. Company's agents to come even here to violate them, and injure the citizens of the United States--certainly he must be corrupted to admit this."

This, Sir, would be the natural conclusion of all persons.

_Art. 13. Letter, Pike to La Jeunesse. (Orig. No. 10, p. 24.)_

GRAND ISLE, UPPER MISSISSIPPI, Apr. 9th, 1806.

SIR:

Being informed that you have arrived here with an intention of selling spirituous liquors to the savages of this quarter, together with other merchandise under your charge, I beg leave to inform you that the sale of spirituous liquors on the Indian territories, to any savages whatsoever, is contrary to a law of the United States for regulating trade with the savages and preserving peace on the frontiers; and that notwithstanding the custom has hitherto obtained on the Upper Mississippi, no person whatsoever has authority therefor. As the practice may have a tendency to occasion broils and dissensions among the savages, thereby occasioning bloodshed and an infraction of the good understanding which now, through my endeavors, so happily exists, I have, at your particular request, addressed you this note in writing, informing you that in case of an infraction I shall conceive it my duty, as an officer of the United States, to prosecute according to the pains and penalties of the law.

I am, Sir,
With all due consideration,
Your obedient servant,
[Signed] Z. M. PIKE, Lt.

MR. LA JENNESSE.

_Art. 14. Letter, Pike to Wilkinson. (Orig. No. 11, pp. 25, 26.)_

PRAIRIE DE CHIEN, Apr. 18, 1806.

DEAR GENERAL:

I arrived here within the hour, and as Mr. Jearreau, of Cahokia, embarks for St. Louis early to-morrow morning, I embrace this opportunity to give a slight sketch of the events of my expedition. Being obliged to steal the hours from my repose, I hope the General will pardon the conciseness of my epistle.

I pushed forward last October with all eagerness, in hopes to make Lake De Sable, and return to St. Louis in the autumn. The weather was mild and promising until the middle of the month, when a sudden change took place and the ice immediately commenced running. I was then conscious of my inability to return, as the falls and other obstacles would retain me until the river would close. I then conceived it best to station part of my men, and push my discovery with the remainder on foot. I marched with 11 soldiers and my interpreter, 700 miles, to the source of the Mississippi, through (I may without vanity say) as many hardships as almost any party of Americans ever experienced, by cold and hunger. I was on the communication of Red river and the Mississippi, the former being a water of Hudson's bay.[V-14] The British flag, which was expanded on some very respectable positions, has given place to that of the United States wherever we passed; likewise, we have the faith and honor of the N. W. Company for about $13,000 duties this year; and by the voyage peace is established between the Sioux and Sauteurs. These objects I have been happy enough to accomplish without the loss of one man, although once fired on. I expect hourly the Sussitongs, Yanctongs, Wachpecoutes, and three other bands of Sioux; some are from the head of the St. Peters, and some from the plains west of that river. From here I bring with me a few of the principal men only, agreeably to your orders; also, some chiefs of the Fols Avoins or Menomones, and Winebagos, the latter of whom have murdered three men since my passing here last autumn. The murderers I shall demand, and am in expectation of obtaining two, for whom I now have irons making, and expect to have them with me on my arrival. Indeed, Sir, the insolence of the savages in this quarter is unbounded; and unless an immediate example is made, we shall certainly be obliged to enter into a general war with them.

My party has been some small check to them this winter, as I was determined to preserve the dignity of our flag, or die in the attempt.

I presume, General, that my voyage will be productive of much new, useful, and interesting information for our government, although detailed in the unpolished diction of a soldier of fortune.

The river broke up at my stockade, 600 miles above here, on the 7th inst., and Lake Pepin was passable for boats only on the 14th. Thus you may perceive, Sir, I have not been slow in my descent, leaving all the traders behind me. From the time it will take to make my arrangements, and the state of the water, I calculate on arriving at the cantonment [Belle Fontaine] on the 4th of May; and hope my General will be assured that nothing but the most insurmountable obstacles shall detain me one moment.

N. B. I beg leave to caution the General against attending to the reports of any individuals relating to this country, as the most unbounded prejudices and party rancor pervade almost generally.

I am, dear Sir,
With great consideration,
Your obedient servant,
[Signed] Z. M. PIKE, Lt.

_Art. 15.[V-15] Speech, Pike to the Puants at Prairie Du Chien, Apr. 20th, 1806. (Part of Orig. No. 12, pp. 26, 27.)_

BROTHERS: When I passed here last autumn I requested to see you on my return. I am pleased to see you have listened to my words. It pleased the Great Spirit to open the ears of all the nations through which I passed, to hear and attend to the words of their father. Peace has been established between two of the most powerful nations in this quarter.

Notwithstanding all this, some of your nation have been bold enough to kill some of the white people. Not content with firing on the canoes descending the Ouiscousing last autumn, they have killed a man on Rock river, when sitting peaceably in his tent. They have also recently murdered a young man near this place, without any provocation whatever. As an officer of the United States, it is my duty to demand the murderers; and I do now demand them.

BROTHERS: In this action I am not influenced or urged by any individual of this place, or the people generally; no more than as it is my duty to give all our citizens all the protection in my power. I will not deceive you. If the prisoners are delivered to me, I shall put them in irons, under my guards, and in all instances treat them as men guilty of a capital crime; on their arrival below, they will be tried for their lives; and if it be proved they have killed these people without provocation, in all probability they will be put to death. If, on the contrary, it is proved that the whites were the aggressors, and it was only self-defence, it will be deemed justifiable, and they will be sent back to their nation.

It becomes you to consider well whether in case of a refusal you are sufficiently powerful to protect these men against the power of the United States, which have always, since the treaty of 1795, treated all the savages as their children; but if they are obliged to march troops to punish the many murders committed on their citizens, then the innocent will suffer with the guilty.

My demand will be reported in candor and truth below; when the general will take such steps as he may deem proper. But I hope, for the sake of your innocent women and children, you will do us and yourselves justice. I was directed to invite a few chiefs down with me to St. Louis. Many of different bands are about to descend with me. I now give an invitation to two or three of your principal men to descend with me. Whatever are your determinations, I pledge the faith of a soldier for a safe conduct back to your nation. At present, I am not instructed to act by force to procure those men, therefore you will consider yourselves as acting without restraint, and under free deliberations.

They replied that they thanked me for the generous and candid manner in which I had explained myself, and that they would give me an answer to-morrow.

_Art. 16. Further Conferences with Indians at Prairie du Chien, Apr. 21st, 1806. (Part of Orig. No. 12, pp. 27-29.)_

The Puants met me in council, agreeably to promise. Karamone, their chief, addressed me, and said they had come to reply to my demand of yesterday. He requested that I, with the traders, would listen. A soldier called Little Thunder then arose and said: "The chiefs were for giving up the murderer present; but it was the opinion of the soldiers that they should themselves take him with the others to their father. But if I preferred their taking one down now, they would do it; if, on the contrary, I expected all three, they would immediately depart in pursuit of the others, and bring them all together to their father. That if he did not bring them he would deliver himself up to the Americans." I replied: "He must not attempt to deceive. That I had before told him that I was not authorized to seize their men by force of arms, but that I wished to know explicitly the time when we might expect them at St. Louis, in order that our general should know what steps to take in case they did not arrive. That the consequence of a non-compliance would be serious to themselves and their children. Also that they had recently hoisted a British flag near this place which, had I been here, I should have prevented. I advised them to bring their British flags and medals down to St. Louis, to deliver them up, and receive others in exchange." Their reply was: "In ten days to the Prairie, and thence to St. Louis in ten days more."

Held a council with the Sioux, in which the chiefs of the Yanctongs, Sussitongs, Sioux of the head of the De Moyen, and part of the Gens Du Lac were present. Wabasha first spoke, in answer to my speech, wherein I had recapitulated the conduct of the Sauteurs, their desire and willingness for peace, their arrangements for next summer, the pipes they had sent, etc. Also, the wish of the general for some of the chiefs to descend below. Recommended the situation and good intentions of the young chiefs at the mouth of the St. Peters, to the others; and that they should give them assistance to keep the bad men in awe.

They all acquiesced in the peace with the Sauteurs, but said generally they doubted their bad faith, as they had experienced it many a time. Nez Corbeau said he had been accused of being hired to kill Mr. Dixon [Dickson], but he here solemnly denied ever having been instigated to any such action.

Tonnere Rouge then arose and said: Jealousy was in a great measure the principal cause of his descending. That if any trader ever had cause to complain of him, now let him do it publicly. That last year an officer went up the Missouri, gave flags and medals, made chiefs, and played the devil and all. That this year liquor was restricted [forbidden] to the Indians on the Louisiana side, and permitted on this. He wished to know the reason of those arrangements.

I replied that the officer who ascended the Missouri was authorized by their father; and that to make chiefs of them, etc., was what I now invited them down for. As to liquor, it was too long an explanation to give them here, but it would be explained to them below; and that in a very short time liquor would be restricted on both sides of the river.

The Puants in the evening came to the house, and Macraragah, alias Merchant, spoke: That last spring he had embarked to go down to St. Louis; but at De Buques [Dubuque's] the Reynards gave back. That when he saw me last autumn he gave me his hand without shame; but since it had pleased the father of life to cover them with shame, they now felt themselves miserable. They implored me to present their flags and medals to the general, as a proof of their good intentions; and when I arrived at St. Louis, to assure the general they were not far behind. The chiefs and the soldiers would follow with the murderers; but begged I would make their road clear, etc. Delivered his pipe and flag.

Karamone then spoke, with apparent difficulty; assured me of the shame, disgrace, and distress of their nation, and that he would fulfill what the others had said; said that he sent by me the medal of his father, which he considered himself no longer worthy to wear--putting it around my neck, trembling--and begged me to intercede with the general in their favor, etc.

I assured him that the American was a generous nation, not confounding the innocent with the guilty; that when they had delivered up the three or four dogs who had covered them with blood, we would again look on them as our children; advised them to take courage that, if they did well, they should be treated well; said that I would tell the general everything relative to the affair; also, their repentance, and determination to deliver themselves and the murderers, and that I would explain about their flags and medals.

_Art. 17. Letter, Pike to Campbell and Fisher. (Orig. No. 13, pp. 29, 30.)_

(_Notice to Messrs. Campbell and Fisher, for taking depositions against the murderers of the Puant nation._)

PRAIRIE DES CHIENS, Apr. 20th, 1806.

GENTLEMEN:

Having demanded of the Puants the authors of the late atrocious murders, and understanding that it is their intention to deliver them to me, I have to request of you, as magistrates of this territory, that you will have all the depositions of those facts taken which it is in your power to procure; and if at any future period, previous to the final decisions of their fate, further proofs can be obtained, that you will have them properly authenticated and forwarded to his Excellency, General Wilkinson.

I am, Gentlemen,
With respect,
Your obedient servant,
[Signed] Z. M. PIKE, Lt.

_Art. 18. Letter, Pike to Wilkinson. (Orig. No. 14, pp. 30, 31.)_

FORT ST. LOUIS, May 26th, 1806.

DEAR SIR:

I have hitherto detained the medals and flags, intending to present them to you at the final conclusion of my vouchers on the subject of my correspondence with the savages. But in order that the general might know of whom I had obtained medals and flags, I gave him a memorandum when I handed in my vouchers on the subject of the N. W. Company. Now I have thought proper to send them by the bearer, marked with the names of the chiefs from whom I obtained them.

I also send you a pipe and beaver robe of Tonnere Rouge, as they are the handsomest of any which I received on the whole route. I have several other pipes, two sacks, and one robe; but as they bore no particular message, I conceived the general would look on it as a matter of no consequence; indeed, none except the Sauteurs' [presents] were accompanied by a talk, but just served as an emblem of the good will of the moment. I likewise send the skins of the lynx and brelaw [badger], as the general may have an opportunity to forward them.

Some gentlemen have promised me a mate for my dog; if I obtain him, the pair, or the single one with the sleigh, is at the general's service, to be transmitted to the States as we determined on doing. I mentioned in my memorandums the engagements I was under relative to the flags or medals, and should any early communications be made to that country, I hope the subject may not be forgotten. I have labeled each article with the name of those from whom I obtained them; also the names of the different animals.

I am, sir,
With esteem and high consideration,
Your obedient servant,
[Signed] Z. M. PIKE, Lt.

GENERAL JAMES WILKINSON.

* * * * *

My faith was pledged to the savage chiefs for the replacing of the medals and flags of the British government which they surrendered me, by others of the same magnitude of the United States; but owing to the change of agents, and a variety of circumstances, it was never fulfilled. This has left a number of the Sioux and Sauteur chiefs without their distinguishing marks of dignity, and has induced them to look on my conduct toward them as a premeditated fraud. This would render my life in danger should I ever return amongst them, and the situation of any other officer who should presume to make a similar demand extremely delicate; besides, it has compromitted with those savage warriors the _faith_ of our government, which, to enable any government ever to do good, should be held inviolate.[V-16]

_Art. 19. Letter,[V-17] Pike to Wilkinson. (Orig. No. 15, pp. 31-33.)_

BELLEFONTAINE, July 2d, 1806.

DEAR SIR:

I have at length finished all my reports, observations, and journals, which arose from my late voyage to the source of the Mississippi, and hope they may prove interesting, from the information on different subjects which they contain.

I perceive that I differ materially from Captain Lewis[V-18] in my account of the numbers, manners, and morals of the Sioux. But our reception by that nation at the first interview being so different, it no doubt left an impression on our minds, which may have, unknown to ourselves, given a cast to our observations. I will not only vouch for the authenticity of my account as to numbers, arms, etc., from my own notes, but from having had them revised and corrected by a gentleman[V-19] of liberal education, who has resided 18 years in that nation, speaks their language, and for some years past has been collecting materials for their natural and philosophical history.

I have not attempted to give an account of nations of Indians whom I did not visit, except the Assinniboins, whom, from their intimate connection with the Sioux, in a lineal point of view, it would have been improper to leave out of the catalogue.

The correctness of the geographical parts of the voyage I will vouch for, as I spared neither time, fatigue, nor danger, to see for myself every part connected with my immediate route.

As the general already knows, at the time I left St. Louis there were no instruments proper for celestial observations, excepting those which he furnished me, which were inadequate to taking the longitude; neither had I the proper tables or authors to accomplish that object, though it can no doubt be ascertained by various charts at different points of my route. Nor had I proper time-pieces or instruments for meteorological observations. Those made were from an imperfect instrument which I purchased in the town of St. Louis.

I do not possess the qualifications of the naturalist, and even had they been mine, it would have been impossible to gratify them to any great extent, as we passed with rapidity over the country we surveyed, which was covered with snow six months out of the nine I was absent. And indeed, my thoughts were too much engrossed in making provision for the exigencies of the morrow to attempt a science which requires time, and a placidity of mind which seldom fell to my lot.

The journal in itself will have little to strike the imagination, being but a dull detail of our daily march, and containing many notes which should have come into the geographical part; others of observations on the savage character, and many that were never intended to be included in my official report.

The daily occurrences written at night, frequently by firelight, when extremely fatigued, and the cold so severe as to freeze the ink in my pen, of course have little claim to elegance of expression or style; but they have truth to recommend them, which, if always attended to, would strip the pages of many of our journalists of their most interesting occurrences.

The general will please to recollect also, that I had scarcely returned to St. Louis before the [Arkansaw] voyage now in contemplation was proposed to me; and that, after some consideration my duty, and inclination in some respects, induced me to undertake it. The preparations for my new voyage prevented the possibility of my paying that attention to the correction of my errors that I should otherwise have done. This, with the foregoing reasons, will, I hope, be deemed a sufficient apology for the numerous errors, tautologies, and egotisms which will appear.

I am, dear General,
With great respect,
Your obedient servant,
[Signed] Z. M. PIKE,
Lt. 1st Regt. Infty.

GENERAL JAMES WILKINSON.

FOOTNOTES:

[V-1] Under this head I bring all the matter which formed in the orig. ed. the first 16 pieces, Nos. 1-16, pp. 1-34 of the Appendix to Pt. 1. These fall easily together, as they consist entirely of letters Pike wrote or received during his Mississippi Expedition--even the reports of his Indian councils being actually a part of his correspondence with General Wilkinson. I am also able to follow the original sequence of the pieces, with the single exception of orig. No. 16 (instructions to Kennerman), which Pike put last and I bring into chronological order of dates. The difference of my Arts. 1-18 from Pike's Nos. 1-16 results from my Art. 3, which had no number in the orig. ed. (it being merely an inclosure in Pike's No. 2), and my Art. 5, the Sioux treaty, which Pike did not separate by any sort of mark from his No. 3, though it is by far the most important piece of this whole lot. The changes I make affect the numeration after No. 2, but not the sequence in any case except that of my Art. 7 (Pike's No. 16). I indicate the original numeration and pagination.

[V-2] There were three persons of this name down to 1805. Louis Tesson Honoré 1st, tailor, b. Canada, 1734, d. St. Louis, 1807, aged 73; married Magdalena Peterson, b. 1739, d. St. Louis, 1812. The family came to St. Louis from Kaskaskia. Among 8 children was--Louis Tesson Honoré 2d, eldest son; he married (1) Marie Duchouquette, (2) Theresa Creely, in 1788; by the latter he had Louis Tesson Honoré 3d, b. St. Louis about 1790; married Amaranthe Dumoulin; d. there Aug. 20th, 1827. The one Pike names was no doubt No. 2.

[V-3] This piece is the inclosure mentioned in Art. 2. In the orig. ed. it had no number, and occupied p. 5.

[V-4] Doc. No. 3, p. 6-9, of the orig. ed. was printed in a peculiarly misleading manner. In the first place it was headed in capitals, "Conferences held with different bands of Indians, on a voyage up the Mississippi, in the years 1805 and 1806," though it was entirely occupied with a single such conference, namely, that with the Sioux, of Sept. 23d, 1805. In the second place, this major head was followed by an italicised minor head which properly covered only Pike's speech on the occasion, yet included the important terms of the treaty effected, as the latter was tacked on to Pike's speech without any separate heading, and even without any break in the text. We must therefore break orig. Doc. No. 3 into two pieces, to be enumerated as Art. 4 and Art. 5. For the former of these, which is Pike's speech, the orig. minor head of Doc. No. 3 may be retained. For the latter of these, which is the Sioux treaty, a new head must be supplied; especially as this is by far the most important result of Pike's Mississippi voyage--perhaps more important than all the rest collectively--concerning which there is a great deal to be said.

[V-5] Who the "father" may be whom Pike imposes upon the Indians in his various powwows is not always clear. Sometimes President Jefferson appears to be indicated; sometimes General Wilkinson; sometimes Pike himself. In the present instance it is General Wilkinson, and the Osage mission in mention is that upon which Lieutenant George Peter had been detailed by the general. This appears in a letter from General Wilkinson to the Secretary of War, dated St. Louis, Aug. 25th, 1805, now on file in the War Department, and in the following extract: "I find our parties under Lieuts. Pike and Peter are making rapid progress on their routes. Pike had ascended the Mississippi 150 miles on the fifth day after he left this place, and I have just received a letter from Peters [_sic_] dated the 19th inst., 150 miles up the Osage River, altho' he left S^t. Charles, 25 miles from the mouth of the Missouri, on the 10th inst. and had been obstructed by almost incessant rains and consequent high waters. He is charmed with the river and its banks, which He reports to be far superior to those of the Ohio in beauty and fertility--Independent of the immediate objects of these parties, they serve to instruct our young officers and also our soldiery, on subjects which may hereafter become interesting to the United States." George Peter of Maryland was appointed from the District of Columbia to be a second lieutenant of the 9th Infantry, July 12th, 1799, and honorably discharged June 15th, 1800; he was appointed lieutenant of Artillerists and Engineers, Feb. 16th, 1801; of Artillerists, Apr. 1st, 1802; became captain, Nov. 3d, 1807; was transferred to the Light Artillery in May, 1808; resigned, June 11th, 1809; and died June 22d, 1861.

[V-6] As explained in note 1, p. 221, this article requires separation from Art. 4, from which it is totally distinct, though the two form undistinguished parts of one Doc. No. 3, of the orig. ed. I accordingly set them apart, and supply a new heading for Art. 5; but I reprint the latter _precisely_ as it stands in the orig. ed., for reasons which will presently appear. As originally drafted by Pike, and by him communicated to General Wilkinson under cover of a letter of equal date, it appears to have been "scarcely legible," as the general informs the Secretary of War in a letter before me (see Art. 6). I doubt that this extraordinary document ever existed in a form which might not be set aside as fatally defective; and I do not doubt that we acquired legal title to the lands by some means subsequent to this invalid instrument. The probability is that upon due and sufficient investigation of points of law involved it would appear that the supposed cession of lands was not a legally accomplished fact until made such by later negotiation or legislation, with which we have here nothing to do. The following argument concerning Pike's treaty, as simply a starting-point for further steps in the transaction, was submitted in the press-proofs to my relative James M. Flower, Esq., of Chicago, who had no material modification to suggest.

Let us first examine that version of the document which Pike presents upon his own page, and which is therefore presumably authentic.

1. The preamble recites that a conference was held "between the United States of America and the Sioux nation of Indians." But it does not appear that either of the alleged parties to the transaction was officially and legally represented. The Sioux nation consisted in 1805 of at least seven tribes, only one of which was concerned in the affair; and if only the consent of this one tribe was required to effect the cession the conference is erroneously described. Furthermore, it does not appear by what authority Pike assumed to represent the United States. He signs himself "agent" at the conference. Agent of whom or of what? He was certainly not an Indian agent, empowered by the United States to effect treaties with aliens; and though it is true that he was instructed by his military superior to obtain if possible certain cessions, among which was the cession of land at and near the mouth of St. Peter's r., the question recurs whether General Wilkinson was competent to issue military orders to that effect without the authority of the government; and no such authority is expressed or necessarily implied in the terms of the alleged treaty.

2. Art. 1, which ostensibly declares what lands were supposed to be ceded, does in fact declare or describe no such lands sufficiently or recognizably, and is furthermore vitiated by a blunder which would constitute a fatal flaw in the title, if contested. (_a_) "Nine miles square at the mouth of the St. Croix," is in the first place an impossibility, because the mouth of the St. Croix has no such dimensions; and in the second place may mean either a tract of 81 square miles, whose center is at the mouth of the said river, or any one of four or more square tracts of the said extent, any one of whose angles, or any indetermined point of one of whose sides, is at the mouth of the said river; and in no one of these contingencies is the direction in which the remaining bounds are to be laid off described either by points of the compass or by natural landmarks. (_b_) The asterisk set at the words "St. Croix" refers to a memorandum which Pike causes to appear as a clause of the treaty itself, interpolated of his own motion, without the knowledge or consent of the other party to the transaction; it is also unintelligible on its face. "My demand was one league below." Below what? Below the mouth of the St. Croix? That would be the obvious inference; but it would be erroneous to so infer. "Their reply was 'from below.'" This is absolutely unintelligible as it stands; it has no meaning whatever. "I imagine (without iniquity) they may be made to agree." Is it Pike's imagination that is without iniquity? Or is it some agreement that may be brought about without iniquity between his demands and the terms of the cession? Or is it the Indians who can without iniquity be made to agree with a demand that conflicts with the terms of the cession as understood by them? In point of fact, however, this interpolated clause of the treaty, or interpolated memorandum relating to the terms of the cession, has nothing whatever to do with the lands at or near the St. Croix r., because the asterisk which points out the place of the interpolation is misplaced by error of the types. The words which stand "St. Croix,* also from," etc., should stand "St. Croix. *Also from," etc. The printer foiled Pike's intention of placing the asterisk at the beginning of the clause to which it pertains, by setting it at the end of the preceding clause, to which it does not pertain.

3. Now making the actually required transference of the asterisk to its proper and intended position (where it stands correctly on a manuscript copy of the orig. doc. now before me), the whole difficulty which this obnoxious interpolation occasions is shifted to a much more important clause of the treaty, upon which it remains in full force. Accordingly we find that this most important clause beginning "*Also from below," etc., includes an irreconcilable discrepancy between Pike's demand and the Indians' concession. He appears to have demanded that the tract of land ceded should begin "one league" below the confluence of St. Peter's with the Mississippi r.; and the Indians appear to have agreed, not to this demand, but to a cession of a tract of land which should begin "from below" the said confluence; though how far "from below" is not said, and there is nothing to show whether the distance should be more or less than the "one league" which Pike demanded and to which the Indians did not agree. But it is impossible, either with or without "iniquity," to come to any incontestable conclusion concerning a boundary so unintelligibly indicated. The most we can do is to "imagine," as Pike did, that what the Indians were willing to cede and did in fact cede by the terms of the treaty, was a tract which began on one side at no appreciable or no considerable distance below the said confluence, _i. e._, exactly or immediately at the mouth of St. Peter's r. This is a reasonable and natural, if not the only, inference to be drawn from the obscure and scarcely intelligible terms of the article in question; and I believe that such has always been the assumption of its true purport. The initial point assumed, then, is the mouth of St. Peter's r.; but the article does not show in what, if any, direction a line is to be drawn through this point for the purpose of establishing a practicable boundary. No line can be determined by fewer than two points; yet the article specifies no second point to or from which a line may be drawn from or to the mouth of St. Peter's r. to represent one side of the tract supposed to have been ceded. The further terms of the article throw no light on the case. These terms are only "to include the falls of St. Anthony, extending nine miles on each side of the river." This clause of the cession does not specify which one of the two said rivers the Falls of St. Anthony extend nine miles on each side of, and it is also a natural impossibility for the said falls to extend any miles on either side of any river. Seeking some other construction to be put upon terms which are obviously absurd if taken literally, we drag from obscurity a semblance of meaning they may be assumed to have. This meaning is, that the tract of land ceded does to all intent and purpose extend from a point at the mouth of St. Peter's r. to some point in or on the Mississippi r., at or beyond the Falls of St. Anthony; but to what point is not specified. However, we may assume that the phrase "to include the falls of St. Anthony" is to be construed to include no more than these falls. This assumption gives us a second datum-point of the required boundary, but does not in any way assist us to an intelligible connection between the first point and the second one, along which any line can be drawn as a boundary. This deficiency of any line whatever may be assumed to be supplied by the only remaining clause of the article, namely, "extending nine miles on each side of the river." But in what direction are nine miles on each side of the river to be taken? For anything that appears to the contrary, the distance between the mouth of St. Peter's r. and the Falls of St. Anthony may be nine miles, and there is nothing in the terms of the article which forbids the measurement of nine miles to be made up each side of the Mississippi from the mouth of St. Peter's r. to the Falls of St. Anthony, and as much further as nine miles may be found to reach. On such assumption, the cession included only a section of the Mississippi r., and not any land on either side of this river beyond its immediate banks; all that was ceded by the Sioux being in such event a waterway and a waterpower. To claim as ours by the terms of the treaty any land on either side of the river, we have to proceed upon yet another assumption, namely, that the nine miles in question were to be measured in a direction away from the river "on each side." But even assuming such to have been the intent and purport of the article, several further questions arise. The first of these concerns the meaning of the word "each" in its present connection. This word means either one of two or more things in their reciprocal relation, and thus implies both; in the present instance, as a river has only two sides, "each side" means both sides. It is clear that a distance of nine miles is to be measured away from each side of the river, _i. e._, is to include some distance on both sides of the river; but the terms of the article do not state whether the whole of nine miles' distance from one side of the river, and the whole of nine miles' distance from the other side of the river, was ceded, or whether a part of these nine miles on one side and the rest of these nine miles on the other was ceded; or, in the latter case, what part of these nine miles on one side and what part of these nine miles on the other side were ceded. In other words, is the tract of land ceded eighteen miles wide, or only nine miles wide? In the former case it would of course lie in two equal tracts, one on each side of the river; in the latter case, its location would be wholly indeterminate (within certain obvious limitations); for it might be four and a half miles on each side, or four miles on one side and five on the other, and so on. Even were all the foregoing questions settled--arbitrarily, conventionally, or otherwise--yet others would arise. Among these would be the shape of the two lateral boundaries of the tract of land. This tract is described as "extending nine miles on each side of the river." That is, each boundary furthest from the river is to be at the same distance from its own side of the river at every point of its own extent. This requires that these bounds should be parallel with each other, and such parallelism involves the meandering of two lines parallel at every point with the meanders of the river. Assuming that this were satisfactorily done, it would still be impossible to determine the connection of these two sides of a theoretical tract of land with the other two sides required for actual boundary. For there is nothing in the article to show the direction in which either the line which crosses the mouth of St. Peter's r., or the line which crosses the Falls of St. Anthony, is to be extended to intersect any lines, however the latter may have been projected. We are forced to yet further assumptions, for which the terms of the cession give no warrant whatever. No determinable shape is given to the tract of land by the terms of the cession. If we assume that a square was intended--as was expressly the intention in the case of the land about the mouth of the St. Croix--we are confronted with some terms of the article which put a square out of the question. By these terms the land can only be a square in case the mouth of the St. Peter's r. be nine miles below the Falls of St. Anthony, and in the further case that we measure four and a half miles from one and four and a half miles from the other side of the Mississippi, and make all connections at right angles by means of right lines. It is needless to push the difficulty further. Nothing of this sort, we may be sure, was in the minds of the Sioux at the time, and it may be doubted that anything of the sort occurred to Pike. The patent fact remains that even if both parties to the transaction were competent to execute the instrument by which certain lands were ceded, neither the situation, nor the shape, nor the size of the tract ceded can be determined from the article of the treaty relating thereto. How the cession thus left in the air may have been subsequently determined, it is not to my present purpose to inquire. My contention is simply that we acquired by Article 1 of this famous treaty no tract or tracts of land which can be located according to the terms of the article; and that if there be not a cloud upon the title to every foot of land between and including Fort Snelling and Minneapolis, and for some distance on each side of those places, then such cloud has been removed by legislative or other action subsequent to the supposed cession. It will also be remembered by those interested in such things that the question has been raised whether the Sioux who seem to have ceded this land to us had at the time a clear title to it; for Carver claimed, and some of his heirs have since sought to establish his claim, that the Sioux had at one time made over to him, for a valuable consideration, certain lands supposed to be the same, wholly or in part, as those which they made over to Pike. This case I understand was tried, and decided adversely in law; whether it be not a good case in equity is another question.

4. With the competency of both parties to the transaction brought into question, and with the size, shape, and situation of the land-grant shown to be indeterminable, we have next to consider whether Article 2 does not invalidate, vitiate, or void the whole instrument. In the version which Pike's printer offers us, it reads: "Art. 2. That in consideration of the above grants, the United States shall pay (filled up by the senate with 2000 dollars)." This is simply ridiculous. By the terms of Article 2, the valuable consideration which the Sioux received is an imaginary nonentity described as "(filled up by the senate with 2000 dollars)." However, this absurdity in the wording of an international document is so clearly due to the heedlessness of an inexperienced young officer, and what Pike meant by such phraseology is so obvious, that we can let it go with only the further remark that the purport of Article 2, as it stands on his page, is clearer than anything in Article 1. For it is an obvious editorial interpolation of his own, forming no part of the original document, but simply intended to inform the reader that at some time subsequent to the execution of the instrument by the contracting parties, the Senate of the United States voted to fill up a place which had been left blank in the original document with a clause which provided that the United States should pay $2,000 to the Indians in consideration of the grant which the latter had made. But this very fact goes far to show that the instrument was in the first place fatally defective, no valuable or any consideration whatever having been originally expressed or implied in the terms of Article 2. On this point I have carefully examined two manuscript copies of the "treaty," both made soon after the transaction in question, and both now on file in the War Department. One of the manuscripts reads: "Article 2^nd.--That in consideration of the above Grants, the United States" The other manuscript reads: "Art. 2^d That in consideration of the above grants the U. S." A third version of Article 2, in an official imprint of the treaty, published by the Indian Bureau, is: "ARTICLE 2. That in consideration of the above grants the United States ******" Whence it appears that the words "shall pay," which occur in the version our young friend offers in his book, were also an editorial invention of his own; there is no hint in the original instrument that the United States was to pay anything. For anything that appears to the contrary, the United States might have declared war with England, or amended the Constitution, or done nothing, in consideration of the above grant. Pike could give the Indians no assurance that the United States would do anything whatever--that they would even accept the lands as a gift, because he had no knowledge of future Acts of Congress, and no authority to make any stipulations which should be binding on the government. What is perhaps the most extraordinary thing about this extraordinary transaction is that Pike informs Wilkinson by letter of equal date that lands to the extent of about 100,000 acres had been obtained "for a song"; calls the general's attention pointedly to the fact "that the 2d article, relative to consideration, is blank;" that the "song" in mention was worth about $250, being the value of certain presents with which he had personally and privately feed the two chiefs who signed the treaty, these presents being partly from articles of his personal property; and suggests to the general "to insert the amount of those articles as the considerations to be specified in article 2d." General Wilkinson expresses unfeigned surprise at this, in a letter before me addressed to the Secretary of War, dated St. Louis, Nov. 26th, 1805, in which he says: "You have a copy of the agreement under cover, in which, for what reason I cannot divine, he [Pike] omits the stipulation on the part of the United States;" and again, after quoting some clauses of Pike's letter to himself, he remarks: "I do not fairly comprehend this reasoning, but I dare say Mr. Pike will be able to explain it satisfactorily, tho' it is unquestionable he is a much abler soldier than negotiator." We need not take the view that this was a shady transaction; yet if Wilkinson had inserted $250 as the consideration to be paid for the land, no more than this could have been claimed by the Sioux, and as this was in part Pike's personal property, some land would have been his own unless he had chosen to make it over to the United States on being reimbursed in a like amount--that is, if such a treaty was worth any more than the paper on which it was written. The facts appear to be that Pike hobnobbed with two chiefs till he got them to make him a present of the land he wanted, in consideration of some presents which he had already made to these two Indians privately.