Chapter II: Introduction (1)

NO sooner was the late War with France concluded, and Peace established by the Treaty of Versailles in the Year 1763, than I began to consider (having rendered my country some services during the war) how I might continue still serviceable, and contribute, as much as lay in my power, to make that vast acquisition of territory, gained by Great Britain, in North America advantageous to it. It appeared to me indispensably needful, that Government should be acquainted in the first place with the true state of the dominions they were now become possessed of. To this purpose, I determined, as the next proof of my zeal, to explore the most unknown parts of them, and to spare no trouble or expence in acquiring a knowledge that promised to be so useful to my countrymen. I knew that many obstructions would arise to my scheme from the want of good Maps and Charts; for the French, whilst they retained their power in North America, had taken every artful method to keep all other nations, particularly the English, in ignorance of the concerns of the interior parts of it: and to accomplish this design with the greater certainty, they had published inaccurate maps and false accounts; calling the different nations of the Indians by nicknames they had given them, and not by those really appertaining to them. Whether the intention of the French in doing this, was to prevent these nations from being discovered and traded with, or to conceal their discourse, when they talked to each other of the Indian concerns, in their presence, I will not determine; but whatsoever was the cause from which it arose, it tended to mislead.

As a proof that the English had been greatly deceived by these accounts, and that their knowledge relative to Canada had usually been very confined, before the conquest of Crown-Point in 1759, it had been esteemed an impregnable fortress: but no sooner was it taken, than we were convinced that it had acquired its greatest security from false reports, given out by its possessors, and might have been battered down with a few four pounders. Even its situation, which was represented to be so very advantageous, was found to owe its advantages to the same source. It cannot be denied but that some maps of these countries have been published by the French with an appearance of accuracy; but these are of so small a size and drawn on so minute a scale, that they are nearly inexplicable. The sources of the Mississippi, I can assert from my own experience, are greatly misplaced; for when I had explored them, and compared their situation with the French Charts, I found them very erroneously represented, and am satisfied that these were only copied from the rude sketches of the Indians.

Even so lately as their evacuation of Canada they continued their schemes to deceive; leaving no traces by which any knowledge might accrue to their conquerors: for though they were well acquainted with all the Lakes, particularly with Lake Superior, having constantly a vessel of considerable burthen thereon, yet their plans of them are very incorrect. I discovered many errors in the descriptions given therein of its Islands and Bays, during a progress of eleven hundred miles that I coasted it in canoes. They likewise, on giving up the possession of them, took care to leave the places they had occupied in the same uncultivated state they had found them; at the same time destroying all their naval force. I observed myself part of the hulk of a very large vessel, burnt to the water’s edge, just at the opening from the Straits of St. Marie’s into the Lake.

These difficulties, however, were not sufficient to deter me from the undertaking, and I made preparations for setting out. What I chiefly had in view, after gaining a knowledge of the Manners, Customs, Languages, Soil, and natural Productions of the different nations that inhabit the back of the Mississippi, was to ascertain the Breadth of that vast continent, which extends from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean, in its broadest part between 43 and 46 Degrees Northern Latitude. Had I been able to accomplish this, I intended to have proposed to Government to establish a Post in some of those parts about the Straits of Annian, which having been first discovered by Sir Francis Drake, of course belong to the English. This I am convinced would greatly facilitate the discovery of a North-west Passage, or a communication between Hudson’s Bay and the Pacific Ocean. An event so desirable, and which has been so often sought for, but without success. Besides this important end, a settlement on that extremity of America would answer many good purposes, and repay every expence the establishment of it might occasion. For it would not only disclose new sources of trade, and promote many useful discoveries, but would open a passage for conveying intelligence to China, and the English settlements in the East Indies, with greater expedition than a tedious voyage by the Cape of Good Hope, or the Straits of Magellan will allow of.

How far the advantages arising from such an enterprize may extend can only be ascertained by the favourable concurrence of future events. But that the completion of the scheme, I have had the honour of first planning and attempting, will some time or other be effected, I make no doubt. From the unhappy divisions that at present subsist between Great Britain and America, it will probably be some years before the attempt is repeated; but whenever it is, and the execution of it carried on with propriety, those who are so fortunate as to succeed, will reap, exclusive of the national advantages that must ensue, Emoluments beyond their most sanguine expectations. And whilst their spirits are elated by their success, perhaps they may bestow some commendations and blessings on the person that first pointed out to them the way. These, though but a shadowy recompence for all my toil, I shall receive with pleasure.

To what power or authority this new world will become dependent, after it has arisen from its present uncultivated state, time alone can discover. But as the seat of Empire from time immemorial has been gradually progressive towards the West, there is no doubt but that at some future period, mighty kingdoms will emerge from these wildernesses, and stately palaces and solemn temples, with gilded spires reaching the skies, supplant the Indian huts, whose only decorations are the barbarous trophies of their vanquished enemies.

As some of the preceding passages have already informed the Reader that the plan I had laid down for penetrating to the Pacific Ocean, proved abortive, it is necessary to add, that this proceeded not from its impracticability (for the farther I went the more convinced I was that it could certainly be accomplished) but from unforeseen disappointments. However, I proceeded so far, that I was able to make such discoveries as will be useful in any future attempt, and prove a good foundation for some more fortunate Successor to build upon. These I shall now lay before the Public in the following pages; and am satisfied that the greatest part of them have never been published by any person that has hitherto treated of the interior Nations of the Indians; particularly, the account I give of the Naudowessies, and the situation of the Heads of the four great rivers that take their rise within a few leagues of each other, nearly about the center of this great continent; viz. The River Bourbon, which empties itself into Hudson’s Bay; the Waters of Saint Lawrence; the Mississippi, and the River Oregon, or the River of the West, that falls into the Pacific Ocean at the Straits of Annian.

The impediments that occasioned my returning, before I had accomplished my purposes, were these. On my arrival at Michillimackinac, the remotest English post, in September 1766, I applied to Mr. Rogers, who was then governor of it, to furnish me with a proper assortment of goods, as presents for the Indians who inhabit the track I intended to pursue. He did this only in part; but promised to supply me with such as were necessary, when I reached the Falls of Saint Anthony. I afterwards learned that the governor fulfilled his promise in ordering the goods to be delivered to me; but those to whose care he intrusted them, instead of conforming to his orders, disposed of them elsewhere.

Disappointed in my expectations from this quarter, I thought it necessary to return to La Prairié Le Chien; for it was impossible to proceed any farther without presents to ensure me a favorable reception. This I did in the beginning of the year 1767, and finding my progress to the Westward thus retarded, I determined to direct my course Northward. I took this step with a view of finding a communication from the Heads of the Mississippi into Lake Superior, in order to meet, at the grand Portage on the North-west side of that lake, the traders that usually come, about this season, from Michillimackinac. Of these I intended to purchase goods, and then to pursue my journey from that quarter by way of the lakes de Pluye, Dubois, and Ounipique to the Heads of the river of the West, which, as I have said before, falls into the Straits of Annian, the termination of my intended progress.

I accomplished the former part of my design, and reached Lake Superior in proper time; but unluckily the traders I met there acquainted me, that they had no goods to spare; those they had with them being barely sufficient to answer their own demands in these remote parts. Thus disappointed a second time, I found myself obliged to return to the place from whence I began my expedition, which I did after continuing some months on the North and East borders of Lake Superior, and exploring the Bays and Rivers that empty themselves into this large body of water.

As it may be expected that I should lay before the Public the reasons that these discoveries, of so much importance to every one who has any connections with America, have not been imparted to them before, notwithstanding they were made upwards of ten years ago, I will give them to the world in a plain and candid manner, and without mingling with them any complaints on account of the ill treatment I have received.

On my arrival in England, I presented a petition to his Majesty in council, praying for a reimbursement of those sums I had expended in the service of government. This was referred to the Lords Commissioners of Trade and Plantations. Their Lordships from the tenor of it thought the intelligence I could give of so much importance to the nation that they ordered me to appear before the Board. This message I obeyed, and underwent a long examination; much I believe to the satisfaction of every Lord present. When it was finished, I requested to know what I should do with my papers; without hesitation the first Lord replied, That I might publish them whenever I pleased. In consequence of this permission, I disposed of them to a bookseller: but when they were nearly ready for the press, an order was issued from the council board, requiring me to deliver, without delay, into the Plantation Office, all my Charts and Journals, with every paper relative to the discoveries I had made. In order to obey this command, I was obliged to re-purchase them from the bookseller, at a very great expence, and deliver them up. This fresh disbursement I endeavoured to get annexed to the account I had already delivered in; but the request was denied me, notwithstanding I had only acted, in the disposal of my papers, conformably to the permission I had received from the Board of Trade. This loss, which amounted to a very considerable sum, I was obliged to bear, and to rest satisfied with an indemnification for my other expences.

Thus situated, my only expectations are from the favour of a generous Public; to whom I shall now communicate my Plans, Journals, and Observations, of which I luckily kept copies, when I delivered the originals into the Plantation Office. And this I do the more readily, as I hear they are mislaid; and there is no probability of their ever being published. To those who are interested in the concerns of the interior parts of North America, from the contiguity of their possessions, or commercial engagements, they will be extremely useful, and fully repay the sum at which they are purchased. To those, who, from a laudable curiosity, wish to be acquainted with the manners and customs of every inhabitant of this globe, the accounts here given of the various nations that inhabit so vast a track of it, a country hitherto almost unexplored, will furnish an ample fund of amusement and gratify their most curious expectations. And I flatter myself they will be as favourably received by the Public, as descriptions of islands, which afford no other entertainment than what arises from their novelty; and discoveries, that seem to promise very few advantages to this country, though acquired at an immense expence.

To make the following Work as comprehensible and entertaining as possible, I shall first give my Readers an account of the route I pursued over this immense continent (through which they will be able to attend me by referring to the plan prefixed) and as I pass on, describe the number of Inhabitants, the situation of the Rivers and Lakes, and the productions of the country. Having done this, I shall treat, in distinct Chapters, of the Manners, Customs, and Languages of the Indians, and to complete the whole, add a Vocabulary of the Words mostly in use among them.

And here it is necessary to bespeak the candour of the learned part of my Readers in the perusal of it, as it is the production of a person unused, from opposite avocations, to literary pursuits. He therefore begs they would not examine it with too critical an eye; especially when he assures them that his attention has been more employed on giving a just description of a country that promises, in some future period, to be an inexhaustible source of riches to that people who shall be so fortunate as to possess it, than on the style or composition; and more careful to render his language intelligible and explicit, than smooth and florid.

A

JOURNAL OF THE TRAVELS,

WITH A

DESCRIPTION

OF THE

COUNTRY, LAKES, &c.

IN June 1766, I set out from Boston, and proceeded by way of Albany and Niagara, to Michillimackinac; a Fort situated between the Lakes Huron and Michigan, and distant from Boston 1300 miles. This being the uttermost of our factories towards the north-west, I considered it as the most convenient place from whence I could begin my intended progress, and enter at once into the Regions I designed to explore.

Referring my Readers to the publications already extant for an Account of those Parts of North America, that, from lying adjacent to the Back-Settlements, have been frequently described, I shall confine myself to a Description of the more interior parts of it, which having been but seldom visited, are consequently but little known. In doing this, I shall in no instance exceed the bounds of truth, or have recourse to those useless and extravagant exaggerations too often made use of by travellers, to excite the curiosity of the public, or to increase their own importance. Nor shall I insert any observations, but such as I have made myself, or, from the credibility of those by whom they were related, am enabled to vouch for their authenticity.

Michillimackinac, from whence I began my travels, is a Fort composed of a strong stockade, and is usually defended by a garrison of one hundred men. It contains about thirty houses, one of which belongs to the governor, and another to the commissary. Several traders also dwell within its fortifications, who find it a convenient situation to traffic with the neighbouring nations. Michillimackinac, in the language of the Chipéway Indians, signifies a Tortoise; and the place is supposed to receive its name from an Island, lying about six or seven miles to the north-east, within light of the Fort, which has the appearance of that animal.

During the Indian war that followed soon after the Conquest of Canada in the year 1763, and which was carried on by an army of confederate nations composed of the Hurons, Miamies, Chipéways, Ottowaws, Pontowattimies, Mississauges, and some other tribes, under the direction of Pontiac, a celebrated Indian warrior, who had always been in the French interest, it was taken by surprize in the following manner: The Indians having settled their plan, drew near the Fort, and began a game at Ball, a pastime much used among them, and not unlike tennis. In the height of their game, at which some of the English officers, not suspecting any deceit, stood looking on, they struck the ball, as if by accident, over the stockade; this they repeated two or three times, to make the deception more complete; till at length, having by this means lulled every suspicion of the centry at the south gate, a party rushed by him; and the rest soon following, they took possession of the Fort, without meeting with any opposition. Having accomplished their design, the Indians had the humanity to spare the lives of the greatest part of the garrison and traders, but they made them all prisoners, and carried them off. However some time after they took them to Montreal, where they were redeemed at a good price. The Fort also was given up again to the English at the peace made with Pontiac by the commander of Detroit the year following.

Having here made the necessary dispositions for pursuing my travels, and obtained a credit from Mr. Rogers, the governor, on some English and Canadian traders who were going to trade on the Mississippi, and received also from him a promise of a fresh supply of goods when I reached the Falls of Saint Anthony, I left the Fort on the 3d of September, in company with these traders. It was agreed, that they should furnish me with such goods as I might want, for presents to the Indian chiefs, during my continuance with them, agreeable to the governor’s order. But when I arrived at the extent of their route, I was to find other guides, and to depend on the goods the governor had promised to supply me with.

We accordingly set out together, and on the 18th arrived at Fort La Bay. This Fort is situated on the southern extremity of a Bay in Lake Michigan, termed by the French the Bay of Puants; but which, since the English have gained possession of all the settlements on this part of the Continent, is called by them the Green Bay. The reason of its being thus denominated, is from its appearance; for on leaving Michillimackinac in the spring season, though the trees there have not even put forth their buds, yet you find the country around La Bay, notwithstanding the passage has not exceeded fourteen days, covered with the finest verdure, and vegetation as forward as it could be were it summer.

This Fort, also, is only surrounded by a stockade, and being much decayed is scarcely defensible against small arms. It was built by the French for the protection of their trade, some time before they were forced to relinquish it; and when Canada and its dependencies were surrendered to the English, it was immediately garrisoned with an officer and thirty men. These were made prisoners by the Menomonies soon after the surprise of Michillimackinac, and the Fort has neither been garrisoned or kept in repair since.

The Bay is about ninety miles long, but differs much in its breadth; being in some places only fifteen miles, in others from twenty to thirty. It lies nearly from north-east to south-west. At the entrance of it from the Lake are a string of islands, extending from north to south, called the Grand Traverse. These are about thirty miles in length, and serve to facilitate the passage of canoes, as they shelter them from the winds, which sometimes come with violence across the Lake. On the side that lies to the south-east is the nearest and best navigation.

The islands of the Grand Traverse are mostly small and rocky. Many of the rocks are of an amazing size, and appear as if they had been fashioned by the hands of artists. On the largest and best of these islands stands a town of the Ottowaws, at which I found one of the most considerable chiefs of that nation, who received me with every honour he could possibly show to a stranger. But what appeared extremely singular to me at the time, and must do so to every person unacquainted with the customs of the Indians, was the reception I met with on landing. As our canoes approached the shore, and had reached within about threescore rods of it, the Indians began a feu-de-joy; in which they fired their pieces loaded with balls; but at the same time they took care to discharge them in such a manner, as to fly a few yards above our heads: during this they ran from one tree or stump to another, shouting and behaving as if they were in the heat of battle. At first I was greatly surprised, and was on the point of ordering my attendants to return their fire, concluding that their intentions were hostile; but being undeceived by some of the traders, who informed me that this was their usual method of receiving the chiefs of other nations, I considered it in its true light, and was pleased with the respect thus paid me.

I remained here one night. Among the presents I made the chiefs, were some spirituous liquors; with which they made themselves merry, and all joined in a dance, that lasted the greatest part of the night. In the morning when I departed, the chief attended me to the shore, and, as soon as I had embarked, offered up, in an audible voice, and with great solemnity, a fervent prayer in my behalf. He prayed “that the Great Spirit would favour me with a prosperous voyage; that he would give me an unclouded sky, and smooth waters, by day, and that I might lie down, by night, on a beaver blanket, enjoying uninterrupted sleep, and pleasant dreams; and also that I might find continual protection under the great pipe of peace.” In this manner he continued his petitions till I could no longer hear them.

I must here observe, that notwithstanding the inhabitants of Europe are apt to entertain horrid ideas of the ferocity of these savages, as they are termed, I received from every tribe of them in the interior parts, the most hospitable and courteous treatment; and am convinced, that till they are contaminated by the example and spirituous liquors of their more refined neighbours, they retain this friendly and inoffensive conduct towards strangers. Their inveteracy and cruelty to their enemies I acknowledge to be a great abatement of the favourable opinion I would wish to entertain of them; but this failing is hereditary, and having received the sanction of immemorial custom, has taken too deep root in their minds to be ever extirpated.

Among this people I eat of a very uncommon kind of bread. The Indians, in general, use but little of this nutritious food: whilst their corn is in the milk, as they term it, that is, just before it begins to ripen, they slice off the kernels from the cob to which they grow, and knead them into a paste. This they are enabled to do without the addition of any liquid, by the milk that flows from them; and when it is effected, they parcel it out into cakes, and inclosing them in leaves of the basswood tree, place them in hot embers, where they are soon baked. And better flavoured bread I never eat in any country.

This place is only a small village containing about twenty-five houses and sixty or seventy warriors. I found nothing there worthy of further remark.

The land on the south-east side of the Green Bay is but very indifferent, being overspread with a heavy growth of hemlock, pine, spruce and fir trees. The communication between Lake Michigan and the Green Bay has been reported by some to be impracticable for the passage of any vessels larger than canoes or boats, on account of the shoals that lie between the islands in the Grand Traverse; but on sounding it I found sufficient depth for a vessel of sixty tons, and the breadth proportionable.

The land adjoining to the bottom of this Bay is very fertile, the country in general level, and the perspective view of it pleasing and extensive.

A few families live in the Fort, which lies on the west-side of the Fox River, and opposite to it, on the east side of its entrance, are some French settlers who cultivate the land, and appear to live very comfortably.

The Green Bay or Bay of Puants is one of those places to which the French, as I have mentioned in the Introduction, have given nicknames. It is termed by the inhabitants of its coasts, the Menomonie Bay; but why the French have denominated it the Puant or Stinking Bay I know not. The reason they themselves give for it is, that it was not with a view to mislead strangers, but that by adopting this method they could converse with each other, concerning the Indians, in their presence, without being understood by them. For it was remarked by the persons who first traded among them, that when they were speaking to each other about them, and mentioned their proper name, they instantly grew suspicious, and concluded that their visiters were either speaking ill of them, or plotting their destruction. To remedy this they gave them some other name. The only bad consequence arising from the practice then introduced is, that English and French geographers, in their plans of the interior parts of America, give different names to the same people, and thereby perplex those who have occasion to refer to them.

Lake Michigan, of which the Green Bay is a part, is divided on the north-east from Lake Huron by the Straits of Michillimackinac; and is situated between forty-two and forty-six degrees of latitude, and between eighty-four and eighty-seven degrees of west longitude. Its greatest length is two hundred and eighty miles, its breadth about forty, and its circumference nearly six hundred. There is a remarkable string of small islands beginning over against Atkin’s Farm, and running about thirty miles south-west into the Lake. These are called the Beaver Islands. Their situation is very pleasant, but the soil is bare. However they afford a beautiful prospect.

On the north-west parts of this Lake the waters branch out into two bays. That which lies towards the north is the Bay of Noquets, and the other the Green Bay just described.

The waters of this as well as the other great Lakes are clear and wholesome, and of sufficient depth for the navigation of large ships. Half the space of the country that lies to the east, and extends to Lake Huron, belongs to the Ottowaw Indians. The line that divides their territories from the Chipéways, runs nearly north and south, and reaches almost from the southern extremity of this Lake, across the high lands, to Michillimackinac, through the center of which it passes. So that when these two tribes happen to meet at the factory, they each encamp on their own dominions, at a few yards distance from the stockade.

The country adjacent either to the east or west side of this lake is composed but of an indifferent soil, except where small brooks or rivers empty themselves into it; on the banks of these it is extremely fertile. Near the borders of the Lake grow a great number of sand cherries, which are not less remarkable for their manner of growth, than for their exquisite flavour. They grow upon a small shrub not more than four feet high, the boughs of which are so loaded that they lie in clusters on the sand. As they grow only on the sand, the warmth of which probably contributes to bring them to such perfection, they are called by the French, cherries de sable, or sand cherries. The size of them does not exceed that of a small musket ball, but they are reckoned superior to any other sort for the purpose of steeping in spirits. There also grow around the Lake gooseberries, black currants, and an abundance of juniper, bearing great quantities of berries of the finest sort.

Sumack likewise grows here in great plenty; the leaf of which, gathered at Michaelmas when it turns red, is much esteemed by the natives. They mix about an equal quantity of it with their tobacco, which causes it to smoke pleasantly. Near this Lake, and indeed about all the great lakes, is found a kind of willow, termed by the French, bois rouge, in English red wood. Its bark, when only of one year’s growth, is of a fine scarlet colour, and appears very beautiful; but as it grows older, it changes into a mixture of grey and red. The stalks of this shrub grow many of them together, and rise to the height of six or eight feet, the largest not exceeding an inch diameter. The bark being scraped from the sticks, and dried and powdered, is also mixed by the Indians with their tobacco, and is held by them in the highest estimation for their winter smoaking. A weed that grows near the great lakes, in rocky places, they use in the summer season. It is called by the Indians, Segockimac, and creeps like a vine on the ground, sometimes extending to eight or ten feet, and bearing a leaf about the size of a silver penny, nearly round; it is of the substance and colour of the laurel, and is, like the tree it resembles, an evergreen. These leaves, dried and powdered, they likewise mix with their tobacco; and, as said before, smoak it only during the summer. By these three succedaneums the pipes of the Indians are well supplied through every season of the year; and as they are great smoakers, they are very careful in properly gathering and preparing them.

On the 20th of September I left the Green Bay, and proceeded up Fox River, still in company with the traders and some Indians. On the 25th I arrived at the great town of the Winnebagoes, situated on a small island just as you enter the east end of Lake Winnebago. Here the queen who presided over this tribe instead of a Sachem, received me with great civility, and entertained me in a very distinguished manner, during the four days I continued with her.

The day after my arrival I held a council with the chiefs, of whom I asked permission to pass through their country, in my way to more remote nations on business of importance. This was readily granted me, the request being esteemed by them as a great compliment paid to their tribe. The Queen sat in the council, but only asked a few questions, or gave some trifling directions in matters relative to the state; for women are never allowed to sit in their councils, except they happen to be invested with the supreme authority, and then it is not customary for them to make any formal speeches as the chiefs do. She was a very ancient woman, small in stature, and not much distinguished by her dress from several young women that attended her. These her attendants seemed greatly pleased whenever I showed any tokens of respect to their queen, particularly when I saluted her, which I frequently did to acquire her favour. On these occasions the good old lady endeavoured to assume a juvenile gaiety, and by her smiles showed she was equally pleased with the attention I paid her.

The time I tarried here, I employed in making the best observations possible on the country, and in collecting the most certain intelligence I could of the origin, language, and customs of this people. From these enquiries I have reason to conclude, that the Winnebagoes originally resided in some of the provinces belonging to New Mexico; and being driven from their native country, either by intestine divisions, or by the extension of the Spanish conquests, they took refuge in these more northern parts about a century ago.

My reasons for adopting this supposition, are, first from their unalienable attachment to the Naudowessie Indians (who, they say, gave them the earliest succour during their emigration) notwithstanding their present residence is more than six hundred miles distant from that people.

Secondly, that their dialect totally differs from every other Indian nation yet discovered; it being a very uncouth guttural jargon, which none of their neighbours will attempt to learn. They converse with other nations in the Chipéway tongue, which is the prevailing language throughout all the tribes, from the Mohawks of Canada to those who inhabit the borders of the Mississippi, and from the Hurons and Illinois to such as dwell near Hudson’s Bay.

Thirdly, from their inveterate hatred to the Spaniards. Some of them informed me that they had made many excursions to the south-west, which took up several moons. An elderly chief more particularly acquainted me, that about forty-six winters ago, he marched, at the head of fifty warriors, towards the south-west, for three moons. That during this expedition, whilst they were crossing a plain, they discovered a body of men on horseback, who belonged to the Black People; for so they call the Spaniards. As soon as they perceived them, they proceeded with caution, and concealed themselves till night came on; when they drew so near as to be able to discern the number and situation of their enemies. Finding they were not able to cope with so great a superiority by day-light, they waited till they had retired to rest; when they rushed upon them, and, after having killed the greatest part of the men, took eighty horses loaded with what they termed white stone. This I suppose to have been silver, as he told me the horses were shod with it, and that their bridles were ornamented with the same. When they had satiated their revenge, they carried off their spoil, and being got so far as to be out of the reach of the Spaniards that had escaped their fury, they left the useless and ponderous burthen, with which the horses were loaded, in the woods, and mounting themselves, in this manner returned to their friends. The party they had thus defeated, I conclude to be the caravan that annually conveys to Mexico, the silver which the Spaniards find in great quantities on the mountains lying near the heads of the Coloredo River: and the plains where the attack was made, probably, some they were obliged to pass over in their way to the heads of the River St. Fee, or Rio del Nord, which falls into the Gulph of Mexico to the west of the Mississippi.

The Winnebagoes can raise about two hundred warriors. Their town contains about fifty houses, which are strongly built with palisades, and the island on which it is situated nearly fifty acres. It lies thirty-five miles, reckoning according to the course of the river, from the Green Bay.

The River, for about four or five miles from the Bay, has a gentle current; after that space, till you arrive at the Winnebago Lake, it is full of rocks and very rapid. At many places we were obliged to land our canoes, and carry them a considerable way. Its breadth, in general, from the Green Bay to the Winnebago Lake, is between seventy and a hundred yards: the land on its borders very good, and thinly wooded with hickery, oak, and hazel.

The Winnebago Lake is about fifteen miles long from east to west, and six miles wide. At its south-east corner, a river falls into it that takes its rise near some of the northern branches of the Illinois River. This I called the Crocodile River, in consequence of a story that prevails among the Indians, of their having destroyed, in some part of it, an animal, which from their description must be a crocodile or an alligator.

The land adjacent to the Lake is very fertile, abounding with grapes, plums, and other fruits, which grow spontaneously. The Winnebagoes raise on it a great quantity of Indian corn, beans, pumpkins, squash, and water melons, with some tobacco. The Lake itself abounds with fish, and in the fall of the year, with geese, ducks, and teal. The latter, which resort to it in great numbers, are remarkably good and extremely fat, and are much better flavoured than those that are found near the sea, as they acquire their excessive fatness by feeding on the wild rice, which grow so plentifully in these parts.

Having made some acceptable presents to the good old queen, and received her blessing, I left the town of the Winnebagoes on the 29th of September, and about twelve miles from it arrived at the place where the Fox River enters the Lake on the north side of it. We proceeded up this river, and on the 7th of October reached the great Carrying Place, which divides it from the Ouisconsin.

The Fox River, from the Green Bay to the Carrying Place, is about one hundred and eighty miles. From the Winnebago Lake to the Carrying Place the current is gentle, and the depth of it considerable; notwithstanding which, in some places it is with difficulty that canoes can pass, through the obstructions they meet with from the rice stalks, which are very large and thick, and grow here in great abundance. The country around it is very fertile and proper in the highest degree for cultivation, excepting in some places near the River, where it is rather too low. It is in no part very woody, and yet can supply sufficient to answer the demands of any number of inhabitants. This river is the greatest resort for wild fowl of every kind that I met with in the whole course of my travels; frequently the sun would be obscured by them for some minutes together.

About forty miles up this river, from the great town of the Winnebagoes, stands a smaller town belonging to that nation.

Deer and bears are very numerous in these parts, and a great many beavers and other furs are taken on the streams that empty themselves into this river.

The River I am treating of, is remarkable for having been, about eighty years ago, the residence of the united bands of the Ottigaumies and the Saukies, whom the French had nicknamed, according to their wonted custom, Des Sacs and Des Reynards, the Sacks and the Foxes, of whom the following anecdote was related to me by an Indian.

About sixty years ago, the French missionaries and traders having received many insults from these people, a party of French and Indians under the command of Captain Morand marched to revenge their wrongs. The captain set out from the Green Bay in the winter, when they were unsuspicious of a visit of this kind, and pursuing his route over the snow to their villages, which lay about fifty miles up the Fox River, came upon them by surprize. Unprepared as they were, he found them an easy conquest, and consequently killed or took prisoners the greatest part of them. On the return of the French to the Green Bay, one of the Indian chiefs in alliance with them, who had a considerable band of the prisoners under his care, stopped to drink at a brook; in the mean time his companions went on: which being observed by one of the women whom they had made captive, she suddenly seized him with both her hands, whilst he stooped to drink, by an exquisitely susceptible part, and held him fast till he expired on the spot. As the chief, from the extreme torture he suffered, was unable to call out to his friends, or to give any alarm, they passed on without knowing what had happened; and the woman having cut the bands of those of her fellow prisoners who were in the rear, with them made her escape. This heroine was ever after treated by her nation as their deliverer, and made a chiefess in her own right, with liberty to entail the same honour on her descendants: an unusual distinction, and permitted only on extraordinary occasions.

About twelve miles before I reached the Carrying Place, I observed several small mountains which extended quite to it. These indeed would only be esteemed as molehills when compared with those on the back of the colonies, but as they were the first I had seen since my leaving Niagara, a track of nearly eleven hundred miles, I could not leave them unnoticed.

The Fox River, where it enters the Winnebago Lake, is about fifty yards wide, but it gradually decreases to the Carrying Place, where it is no more than five yards over, except in a few places where it widens into small lakes, though still of a considerable depth. I cannot recollect any thing else that is remarkable in this River, except that it so serpentines for five miles, as only to gain in that place one quarter of a mile.

The Carrying Place between the Fox and Ouisconsin Rivers is in breadth not more than a mile and three quarters, though in some maps it is so delineated as to appear to be ten miles. And here I cannot help remarking, that all the maps of these parts, I have ever seen, are very erroneous. The rivers in general are described as running in different directions from what they really do; and many branches of them, particularly of the Mississippi, omitted. The distances of places, likewise, are greatly misrepresented. Whether this is done by the French geographers (for the English maps are all copied from theirs) through design, or for want of a just knowledge of the country, I cannot say; but I am satisfied that travellers who depend upon them in the parts I visited, will find themselves much at a loss. Having surveyed with the greatest care, every country through which I passed, I can assert that the plan prefixed to this work is drawn with much greater precision than any extant.

Near one half of the way, between the rivers, is a morass overgrown with a kind of long grass, the rest of it a plain, with some few oak and pine trees growing thereon. I observed here a great number of rattle-snakes. Mons. Pinnisance, a French trader, told me a remarkable story concerning one of these reptiles, of which he said he was an eye-witness. An Indian, belonging to the Menomonie nation, having taken one of them, found means to tame it; and when he had done this, treated it as a Deity; calling it his Great Father, and carrying it with him in a box wherever he went. This the Indian had done for several summers, when Mons. Pinnisance accidentally met with him at this Carrying Place, just as he was setting off for a winter’s hunt. The French gentleman was surprized, one day, to see the Indian place the box which contained his god on the ground, and opening the door give him his liberty; telling him, whilst he did it, to be sure and return by the time he himself should come back, which was to be in the month of May following. As this was but October, Monsieur told the Indian, whose simplicity astonished him, that he fancied he might wait long enough when May arrived, for the arrival of his great father. The Indian was so confident of his creature’s obedience, that he offered to lay the Frenchman a wager of two gallons of rum, that at the time appointed he would come and crawl into his box. This was agreed on, and the second week in May following fixed for the determination of the wager. At that period they both met there again; when the Indian set down his box, and called for his great father. The snake heard him not; and the time being now expired, he acknowledged that he had lost. However, without seeming to be discouraged, he offered to double the bett if his great father came not within two days more. This was further agreed on; when behold on the second day, about one o’clock, the snake arrived, and, of his own accord, crawled into the box, which was placed ready for him. The French gentleman vouched for the truth of this story, and from the accounts I have often received of the docility of those creatures, I see no reason to doubt his veracity.

I observed that the main body of the Fox River came from the south-west, that of the Ouisconsin from the north-east; and also that some of the small branches of these two rivers, in descending into them, doubled, within a few feet of each other, a little to the south of the Carrying Place. That two such Rivers should take their rise so near each other, and after running such different courses, empty themselves into the sea at a distance so amazing (for the former having passed through several great lakes, and run upwards of two thousand miles, falls into the Gulf of St. Lawrence, and the other, after joining the Mississippi, and having run an equal number of miles, disembogues itself into the Gulph of Mexico) is an instance scarcely to be met in the extensive continent of North America. I had an opportunity the year following, of making the same observations on the affinity of various head branches of the waters of the St. Lawrence and the Mississippi to each other; and now bring them as a proof, that the opinion of those geographers, who assert, that rivers taking their rise so near each other, must spring from the same source, is erroneous. For I perceived a visibly distinct separation in all of them, notwithstanding, in some places, they approached so near, that I could have stepped from one to the other.

On the 8th of October we got our canoes into the Ouisconsin River, which at this place is more than a hundred yards wide; and the next day arrived at the Great Town of the Saukies. This is the largest and best built Indian town I ever saw. It contains about ninety houses, each large enough for several families. These are built of hewn plank neatly jointed, and covered with bark so compactly as to keep out the most penetrating rains. Before the doors are placed comfortable sheds, in which the inhabitants sit, when the weather will permit, and smoak their pipes. The streets are regular and spacious; so that it appears more like a civilized town than the abode of savages. The land near the town is very good. In their plantations, which lie adjacent to their houses, and which are neatly laid out, they raise great quantities of Indian corn, beans, melons, &c. so that this place is esteemed the best market for traders to furnish themselves with provisions, of any within eight hundred miles of it.

The Saukies can raise about three hundred warriors, who are generally employed every summer in making incursions into the territories of the Illinois and Pawnee nations, from whence they return with a great number of slaves. But those people frequently retaliate, and, in their turn, destroy many of the Saukies, which I judge to be the reason that they increase no faster.

Whilst I staid here, I took a view of some mountains that lie about fifteen miles to the southward, and abound in lead ore. I ascended one of the highest of these, and had an extensive view of the country. For many miles nothing was to be seen but lesser mountains, which appeared at a distance like haycocks, they being free from trees. Only a few groves of hickery, and stunted oaks, covered some of the vallies. So plentiful is lead here, that I saw large quantities of it lying about the streets in the town belonging to the Saukies, and it seemed to be as good as the produce of other countries.

On the 10th of October we proceeded down the river, and the next day reached the first town of the Ottigaumies. This town contained about fifty houses, but we found most of them deserted, on account of an epidemical disorder that had lately raged among them, and carried off more than one half of the inhabitants. The greater part of those who survived had retired into the woods, to avoid the contagion.

On the 15th we entered that extensive river the Mississippi. The Ouisconsin, from the Carrying Place to the part where it falls into the Mississippi, flows with a smooth but a strong current; the water of it is exceedingly clear, and through it you may perceive a fine and sandy bottom, tolerably free from rocks. In it are a few islands, the soil of which appeared to be good, though somewhat woody. The land near the river also seemed to be, in general, excellent; but that at a distance is very full of mountains, where it is said there are many lead mines.

About five miles from the junction of the rivers, I observed the ruins of a large town in a very pleasing situation. On enquiring of the neighbouring Indians why it was thus deserted, I was informed, that about thirty years ago, the Great Spirit had appeared on the top of a pyramid of rocks, which lay at a little distance from it, towards the west, and warned them to quit their habitations; for the land on which they were built belonged to him, and he had occasion for it. As a proof that he, who gave them these orders, was really the Great Spirit, he further told them, that the grass should immediately spring up on those very rocks from whence he now addressed them, which they knew to be bare and barren. The Indians obeyed, and soon after discovered that this miraculous alteration had taken place. They shewed me the spot, but the growth of the grass appeared to be no ways supernatural. I apprehend this to have been a stratagem of the French or Spaniards to answer some selfish view; but in what manner they effected their purposes I know not.

This people, soon after their removal, built a town on the bank of the Mississippi, near the mouth of the Ouisconsin, at a place called by the French La Prairies les Chiens, which signifies the Dog Plains; it is a large town, and contains about three hundred families; the houses are well built after the Indian manner, and pleasantly situated on a very rich soil, from which they raise every necessary of life in great abundance. I saw here many horses of a good size and shape. This town is the great mart, where all the adjacent tribes, and even those who inhabit the most remote branches of the Mississippi, annually assemble about the latter end of May, bringing with them their furs to dispose of to the traders. But it is not always that they conclude their sale here; this is determined by a general council of the chiefs, who consult whether it would be more conducive to their interest, to sell their goods at this place, or carry them on to Louisiana, or Michillimackinac. According to the decision of this council they either proceed further, or return to their different homes.

The Mississippi, at the entrance of the Ouisconsin, near which stands a mountain of considerable height, is about half a mile over; but opposite to the last mentioned town it appears to be more than a mile wide, and full of islands, the soil of which is extraordinary rich, and but thinly wooded.

A little farther to the west, on the contrary side, a small river falls into the Mississippi, which the French call Le Jaun Riviere, or the Yellow River. Here the traders who had accompanied me hitherto, took up their residence for the winter. I then bought a canoe, and with two servants, one a French Canadian and the other a Mohawk of Canada, on the 19th proceeded up the Mississippi.