Rapid advance of spring--Troops commence a stockade--Principles of the Chippewa tongue--Idea of a new language containing the native principles of syntax, with a monosyllabic method--Indian standard of value--Archaeological evidences in growing trees--Mount Vernon--Signs of spring in the appearance of birds--Expedition to St. Peter's--Lake Superior open--A peculiarity in the orthography of Jefferson--True sounds of the consonants--Philology--Advent of the arrival of a vessel.--Editors and editorials--Arrival from Fort William--A hope fled--Sudden completion of the spring, and ushering in of summer--Odjibwa language, and transmission of Inquiries.
1823.April 12th. Spring is gradually advancing. The deepened roar of the rapids indicates an increased volume of water. The state of the ice is so bad this day that no persons have ventured to cross the river. Yesterday, they still crossed. The bare ground begins to show itself in spots; but the body of snow is still deep in the woods.
14th. TheT. migratoriusor robin made its appearance. The Indians have a pretty tale of the origin of this bird and its fondness for domestic scenes.
16th. Gray duck appeared in the rapids.
17th. Large portions of the ground are now laid bare by the sun.
18th. A friend at New York, about to sail for Europe, writes me under this date: "I expect to sail for St. Petersburgh. I shall take with me some of our choicest specimens, in return for which I hope to procure something new and interesting. The truth is, we know very little of the mineralogy of Russia, and hence such specimens as can be procured will almost necessarily prove interesting."
"The Lyceum is about to publish its proceedings. The members are increasing in numbers and activity. It has been recently agreed that there shall be at least one paper read at every meeting; this will ensure attention, and much increase the interest of the meetings. I hope you may, before long, be able to add your personal attendance."
"I feel it my duty to inform you that the minerals intrusted to my care are situated in every respect as when left by you; they are, of course, entirely dependent upon any order you may give concerning them. I do not think it necessary that you should make anyimmediateprovision for them, or that there is any cause for uneasiness on their account."[38]
[38]Notwithstanding, the collection of specimens referred to was afterwards most sadly dealt with, and pillaged of its choicest specimens.
19th. The troops began to set up the pickets of a stockade or fort, to which the name of "Brady" is given, in allusion to Col. Hugh Brady, U.S.A. The first canoe crossed the river to-day, although the ice still lines each shore of the river for several hundred yards in width.
20th. S. My sister Maria writes to me: "I fancy, by the description you have given of your residence and society at the Sault, that you have enjoyed yourself, and seen as much of the refinements of civilized life as you would have done in many places less remote. Who have you at the Sault that writes such pretty poetry? The piece I refer to is signed Alexina,[39]and is a death-song of an Indian woman at the grave of her murdered husband."
[39]Mrs. Thompson.
22d. One of the principal objections to be urged against the Indian languages, considered as media of communication, is their cumbrousness. There is certainly a great deal of verbiage and tautology about them. The paucity of terms leads not only to the use of figures and metaphors, but is the cause of circumlocution. This day we had a snow storm.
The Chippewa is, in its structure, what is denominated by Mr. Du Ponceau "polysynthetic." It seems the farthest removed possible from the monosyllabic class of languages. I have thought that, if some of its grammatical principles could be applied to monosyllables, a new language of great brevity, terseness, regularity, and poetic expressiveness, might be formed. It would be necessary to restore to its alphabet the consonantsf, l, andr, andv. Its primitive pronouns might be retained, with simple inflections, instead of compound, for plural. It would be necessary to invent a pronoun forshe, as there is, apparently, nothing of this kind in the language. The pronouns might take the following form:--
Ni,I. Nid,We. Niwin,Myself. Niwind,Ourselves.
Ki,Thou. Kid,Yeoryou. Kiwin,Thyself. Kiwind,Yourselves.
Wi,He. Wid,They. Masculine. Wiwin,Yourselves. (Mas.) Wiwind.
Si,She. Sid,They. Feminine. Siwin,Yourselves. (Fem.) Siwind.
DECLENSION OF PRONOUNS.
Ni, Nin, Nee--I, Mine, Me. Nid, Nida, Nidim--We, Us, Ours.
Ki, Kin, Kee--Thou, Thine, Thee. Kid, Kida, Kidim--Ye, You, Yours.Wi, Win, Wee--Him, His, His. Wid, Wida, Widim--They, Their,Theirs. (Mas.)
Si, Sin, See--Her, Hers, Hers. Sid, Sida, Sidim--They, Their, Theirs. (Fem.)
The full meaning of the present class of verbs and substantives of the language could be advantageously transferred to the first, or second, or third syllable of the words, converting them into monosyllables. The plural might be uniformly made ind, following a vowel, and if a word terminate in a consonant, then inad. So the class of plural terminations would bead, ed, id, od, ud. Many generic nouns would require to be invented, and could easily be drawn from existing roots. In the orthography of these, the initial consonant of the corresponding English word might serve as an index, Thus, from the wordaindum, mind, might be derived,
Ain,Mind. Sain,Sorrow.
Tain,Thought. Jain,Joy, &c.
Main,Meditation.
So fromtaibwawin, truth, might be drawntaib, truth--faib, faith--raib, religion--vaib, virtue. A principle of euphony, or affinity of syllabication, might be applied in the abbreviation of a few of this class of generic words: asEo, God, frommonedo.
THE ORDINARY NOUNS WOULD RUN THUS:--
In,Man. Ind,Men.
Ee,Woman. Eed,Women.
Ab,Child. Abad,Children.
Kwi,Boy. Kwid,Boys.
Kwa,Girl. Kwad,Girls.
Os,Father. Osad,Fathers.
Gai,Mother. Gaid,Mothers.
All the existing monosyllables of the language would be retained, but subjected to new laws of construction and concordance. Thus the plural ofKoan, snow, would bekoanad; of ais, shell,aisad; moaz, moas, moazad, &c. Variety in the production of sounds, and of proper cadences in composition, might dictate retention of a certain class of the dissyllables--asossina stone,opina potato,akkiearth,mejimfood,assuba net,auboa liquid,mittiga tree, &c., the plurals of which would beassinad, opinad, akkid, mejimad, assubad, aubad, mittigad. Every substantive would have a diminutive form inis, and an augmentative inchi, the vowel of the latter to be dropped where a vowel begins the word. Thus,chab, a grandchild;chigai, a grandmother.Inis, a little man;osis, a little father, &c.
Adjectives would come under the same rules of abbreviation as nouns and verbs. They would be deprived of their present accidents of number and gender.
Min,Good. Koona,Ugly.
Mon,Bad. Soan,Strong.
Bish,Handsome.
The colors, seasons, cardinal points, &c., would consist of the first syllable of the present words.
The demonstrative pronouns,this, that, there, those, would take the following forms:Mau, this;aho, that. By adding the common plural, the terms fortheseandthosewould be produced:Maud, these;ahod, those.
The prepositions would fall naturally under the rule of abbreviation applied to nouns, &c.Chi, by;peen, in;kish, if, &c.;li, of;ra, to;vi, is;af, at.
Ieauis the verbto be. The auxiliary verbs,have, shall, will, &c., taken from the tensal particles, arege, gu, gei, go, ga.
Pamay stand for the definite article, being the first syllable ofpazhik; and acommafor the indefinite article.
Ieis matter.Ishi, heaven.
EXAMPLES.
Ni sa Eo--I love God. Eo vi min--The Lord is good. Nin os ge pa min in--My father was a good man. Ishiod (Isheod)--The heavens.
Thus a new language might be formed.
24th. The standard of value with the Indians is various. At this place, a beaver skin is the standard of computation in accounts. When an Indian has made a purchase, he inquires, not how many dollars, but how many beaver skins he owes. Farther south, where racoon skins are plenty,theybecome the standard. Some years ago, desertion became so frequent at Chicago and other posts, that the commanding officer offered the customary reward to the Indians of the post, if they would secure the deserters. Five persons went in pursuit, and brought in the men, for which they received a certificate for the amount. They then divided the sum into five equal shares, and subdivided each share into its value in racoon skins. It was not until this division was completed, and the number of skins ascertained, that they could, by any fixed standard of comparison, determine the reward which each had received.
25th. It is stated in the newspapers that hacks of an axe were lately found in the central and solid parts of a large tree near Buffalo, which were supposed to have been made by La Salle's party. Other evidences of the early footsteps of Europeans on this continent have been mentioned. A trammel was found in the solid substance of a tree in Onondaga. A gun barrel in a similar position in the Wabash Valley.[40]Growing wood soon closes over articles left upon it, in the wilderness, where they are long undisturbed.
[40]Hon. R.W. Thompson.
27th. Monedois strictly a term belonging to the Indian mythology and necromancy, and is constantly used to indicate a spirit. It has not the regular termination of the noun inwin, and seems rather verbal in its aspect, and so far as we can decipher its meaning,monis a syllable having a bad meaning generally, as inmonaudud, &c.Edomay possibly be a derivation fromekedo, he speaks.
28th. It is a year ago to-day since I visited the tomb of Washington, at Mount Vernon. There were three representatives in Congress, in company. We left the city of Washington in the morning, in a private carriage, and drove down in good season. I looked about the tomb narrowly for some memento to bring away, and found some mineralogical fragments on the small mound over the tomb, which would bear the application of their book names. On coming back through Alexandria, we dined at a public hotel, where, among other productions of the season, we had cucumbers. What a contrast in climate to my present position! Here, as the eyes search the fields, heaps of snow are still seen in shaded situations, and the ice still disfigures the bays and indentations of the shore in some places, as if it were animated with a determination to hold out against the power of the sun to the utmost. Nature, however, indicates its great vernal throe. White fish were first taken during the season, this day, which is rare.
29th. A friend at Detroit writes under this date: "I had expected that before now, instructions would have reached here requiring you to repair to the St. Peter's. But as the season advances, and they do not arrive, I begin to fear that one of those mutations, to which of all governments upon thismundane sphereours is the most exposed, has changed the intended disposition."
May 1st. Winter still holds its grasp upon the ice in the lower part of the river and straits.
TheClaytonia Virginicaobserved in flower in favorable spots.
The bay opposite the fort on the north-west shore cleared of ice on the 2d, being the first day that the river has exhibited the appearance of being completely clear, a strong north-west wind blowing. It is just four months and ten days from the period of its final closing on the 22d of December.
The yellow sparrow, or boblinkin, appeared this day in the woods.
4th. The surface of the earth is undergoing a rapid transformation, although we are, at the same time, led to observe, that "winter lingering chills the lap of May." Sudden changes of temperature are experienced, which are governed very much by the course and changes of the wind. Nature appears suddenly to have been awakened from her torpid state.
All eyes are now directed to the east, not becausethe sun rises there, but it is the course from which, in our position, we expect intelligence by vessels. We expect a deliverance from our winter's incarceration.
6th. Lake Superior appears to be entirely open. A gentleman attached to the Boundary Survey at Fort William writes to me, under this date, that the bay at that place is free from ice, so as to permit them to resume their operations. They had been waiting for this occurrence for two weeks previously.
8th. It is a year since I received from the President (Mr. Monroe) a commission as agent for these tribes; and it is now more probable than it then was that my residence here may assume a character of permanency. I do not, however, cease to hope that Providence has a more eligible situation in reserve for me.
9th. "Little things," says Dr. Johnson, "are not valued, when they are done by those who cannot do greater." Thomas Jefferson uniformly spelled knowledge without aw, which might not be mentioned, had he not written theNotes on Virginia, and theDeclaration of Independence.
10th. A trader proceeded with a boat into Lake Superior, which gives assurance that this great inland sea is open for navigation. White fish appeared in the rapids, which it is said they never do while there is running ice.
11th. Stearn sums up the points requisite for remembrance by posterity, in these four things--"Plant a tree, write a book, build a house, and get a child." Watts has a deeper tone of morality when he says--
"We should leave ournames, our heirs.Old time and waning moons sweep all the rest away."
12th. When last at Washington, Dr. Thornton, of the Patent Office, detained me some time talking of the powers of the letters of the English alphabet. He drew a strong line of distinction between thenamesand thesoundsof the consonants.L, for instance, calledel, was soundedle, &c.
Philology is one of the keys of knowledge which, I think, admits of its being said that, although it is rather rusty, the rust is, however, a proof of its antiquity. I am inclined to think that more true light is destined to be thrown on the history of the Indians by a study of their languages than of their traditions, or any other feature.
The tendency of modern inquiries into languages seems rather to have been to multiply than to simplify. I do not believe we have more than three mother stocks of languages in all the United States east of the Mississippi, embracing also large portions of territory west of it, namely, the Algonquin, Iroquois, and what may be called Apallachian. Perhaps a little Dakota.
15th. Our first vessel for the season arrived this day. If by a patient series of inquiries, during the winter, we had calculated the appearance of a comet, and found our data verified by its actual appearance, it could not be a subject of deeper interest than the bringing ashore of the ship's mail. Had we not gone to so remote a position, we could not possibly ever have become aware how deeply we are indebted to the genius and discoveries of Cadmus and Faust, whose true worshippers are the corps editorial. Now for a carnival of letters.
Reading, reading, reading, "Big and small, scraps and all."
If editors of newspapers knew the avidity with which their articles are read by persons isolated as we are, I have the charity to believe they would devote a little more time, and exert a little more candor, in penning them. For, after all, how large a portion of all that a newspaper contains is, at least to remote readers, "flat, stale, and unprofitable." The mind soon reacts, and asks if this be valuable news.
I observed theErythronium dens canis, andPanax trifoliumappeared in flower on the 25th.
28th. The schooner "Recovery" arrived from Fort William on the north shore of Lake Superior, bringing letters and despatches, political and commercial. Mr. Siveright, the agent of the H. B. C., kindly sent over to me, for my perusal, a letter of intelligence from an American gentleman in the North.
29th. I have, for some time, relinquished the expectation of being selected to conduct the exploring party, intended to be ordered by government, into the region of the St. Peter's, at least the present season. A letter of this date terminates the uncertainty. "Major Delafield," says a correspondent, "informs me that an exploring party has been ordered under Major Long, to make the tour which was intended for you. Why this arrangement has been made, and the original plan abandoned, I cannot conjecture, unless it resulted from the necessity of placing a military officer at the head of the party. I presume this was the fact, for I am certain that the change in the project did not arise from any feeling in Mr. C.'s mind unfriendly, or even indifferent to you. Upon that subject I can speak definitely, and say to you, that you have a hold upon his esteem, not to be shaken." Thus falls another cherished hope, namely, that of leading an expedition to the North.
30th. Minute particulars are often indicative of general changes. This is the first day that the mosquito has appeared. The weather for a few days has been warm. Vegetation suddenly put forth; the wild cherry, &c., is now in bloom, and gardening has commenced with fine prospects.
31st. Odjibwa language.--There are two generic words in the concrete forms of the Chippewa for water or a liquid, in addition to the common termneebi. They areauboandgomee. Both are manifestly compounds, but, in our present state of knowledge, they may be temporarily considered as elements of other compounds. Thus, if the letternbe prefixed to the former, and the sound ofbsuffixed, the result is the term for soup,nabob. If to the same element ofaubo, the word for fire,iscoda, be prefixed, the result is their name for ardent spirits,iscodawabo, literally fire-water. In the latter case, the letterwis thrown in as a coalescent between the sound of a, asain hate; and the a, asain fall. This is out of a mere regard to euphony.
"If they (the Chippewas) say 'A man loves me,' or 'I love a man,' is there any variation in the wordman?" They do not use the wordmanin either of these instances. The adjectivewhitetakes the animate pronoun form iniz zi, by which the object beloved is indicated,waub-ishk-iz-zeSaugiau.
"Does the object precede or follow the verb?" Generally, it precedes the verb. Fish, have you any? not, Have you any fish?
The substantive preceded the verb in the organization of the language. Things were before the motion of things, or the acts or passions of men which led to motion and emotion. Hence, all substances are changed into and used as verbs.
I this day completed and transmitted the results of my philological inquiries, hoping they might prove acceptable to the distinguished individual to whom they were addressed, and help to advance the subject. This subject is only laid aside by the call of business, and to be effectual must be again resumed with the recurrence of our long winter evenings.
Outlines of the incidents of the summer of 1823--Glance at the geography of the lake country--Concretion of aluminous earth--General Wayne's body naturally embalmed by this property of the soil of Erie--Free and easy manners--Boundary Survey--An old friend--Western commerce--The Austins of Texas memory--Collision of civil and military power--Advantages of a visit to Europe.
1823.June 10th. Mr. Thomas Tousey, of Virginia, writes from Philadelphia, after completing a tour to the West: "The reading of books and looking at maps make a fugitive impression on the mind, compared to the ocular view and examination of a country, which make it seem as though we cannot obtain valuable information, or money to serve a valuable purpose, without great personal labor, fatigue, and often danger. This was much verified to my satisfaction, from a view of the great western lakes; the interesting position where you are--Mackinaw, Green Bay, the fine country between Green Bay and Chicago, and Chicago itself, and the whole country between the latter place and St. Louis.
"Without seeing that country, supposed by many to be the region of cold and sterility, I could not have believed there was in it such a store of blessings yet to be drawn forth by the labor and enterprise of man, for succeeding generations. As yet, there are too many objects to tempt and attract the avarice of man to more mild, but more dangerous climates. But the progress of population and improvement is certain in many parts of the country, and with them will be connected prosperity and happiness."
When it is considered what a small population of civilized beings inhabit that part of the world, it is not to be wondered at that so little knowledge about it exists. I went from Green Bay, with the Express, where but few people ever travel, which was attended with fatigue and danger; but the journey produced this conviction on my mind, that the Michigan Territory has in it a great extent of fine country.
I regard Green Bay, at the mouth of Fox River, and Chicago, as two very important positions, particularly the latter. For many years I have felt a most anxious desire to see the country between Chicago and the Illinois (River), where it has generally been, ignorantly, supposed that only a small sum would be wanting to open a communication between them. By traveling on horseback through the country, and down the Illinois, I have conceived a different and more exalted opinion of this communication, and of the country, than I had before, while I am convinced that it will be attended with a much greater expense to open it than I had supposed.[41]
[41]The Illinois Canal now exists here.
I, with my two companions, found your fossil tree, in the Des Plaines, with considerable labor and difficulty. This I anticipated, from the commonly reputed opinion of the uncommon height of the waters. With your memoir in my hand, we rode up and down the waters till the pursuit was abandoned by the others, while my own curiosity and zeal did not yield till it was discovered. The detached pieces were covered with twelve to twenty inches of water, and each of us broke from them as much as we could well bring away. I showed them to Col. Benton, the Senator in St. Louis; to Major O'Fallon; Col. Strother, and other gentlemen there; to Mr. Birkbeck in Wanboro'; to Mr. Rapp in Harmony; and to a number of different people, through the countries I traveled, till my arrival in Virginia.
"On my arrival here (Philadelphia), I handed the pieces to Mr. Solomon W. Conrad, who delivers lectures on mineralogy, which he made partly the subject of one of his lectures. Since that, I had a piece of it made into a hone, and I had marked on it, 'Schoolcraft's Fossil Tree.'
"Brooke'sGazetteer, improved by Darby, has been ready for delivery three or four months, and is allowed to be a most valuable book. He is, I am sorry to say, truly poor, while his labor is incessant. He set out, several weeks since, to deliver lectures, in the country, where he will probably continue through the summer."
16th. J. D. Doty, Esq., writes from Detroit that a District Court has been established by Congress in the upper country--that he has been appointed to the judgeship, and will hold a court at Michilimackinack, on the third Monday in July. A beginning has thus been made in civil jurisdiction among us benighted dwellers on this far-off land of God's creation. He states, also, the passage of a law for claimants to lands, which have been occupied since 1812. Where law goes, civilization will soon follow.
23d. Giles Sanford, of Erie (Penn.), sends me some curious specimens of the concrete alum-slate of that vicinity--they are columnar, fan-shaped--and requests a description. It is well known that the presence of strong aluminous liquids in the soil of that area had a tendency to preserve the flesh on General Wayne's body, which was found undecayed when, after twenty years' burial, they removed it to Radnor church, in Philadelphia.
28th. Governor C. sends me a pamphlet of additional inquiries, founded chiefly on my replies, respecting the Indian languages. He says--"You see, I have given new scope to your inquiries, and added much to your labors. But it is impracticable, without such assistance as you can render me, to make any progress. I find so few--so very few--who are competent to a rational investigation of the subject, that those who are so must be loaded with a double burden."
July 6th. Mr. Harry Thompson, of Black Rock, N.Y., writes me that he duly forwarded, by a careful teamster, my three lost boxes of minerals, shells, &c., collected in the Wabash Valley, Missouri, and Illinois, in 1821, and that they were received by Mr. Meech of Geneva, and forwarded by him to E.B. Shearman & Co., Utica. The loss of these collections of 1821 seems to me very grievous.
19th. Judge Doty writes from Mackinac: "Believing the winds and fates to have been propitious, I trust you had a speedy, safe, and pleasant passage to your home. A boat arrived this morning, but I heard nothing. Mr. Morrison leaves this evening, and I forward, by him, your dictionary, with many--manythanks for the use.Wecompleted the copy of it last evening, making seventy-five pages of letter paper. I hope I shall be able to return you the favor, and give you soon someniceSioux words."
August 5th. Judge Doty, in a letter of thanks for a book, and some philological suggestions, transmits a list of inquiries on the legal code of the Indians--a rather hard subject--in which, quotations must not be Coke upon Littleton, but the law oftomahawk upon craniums.
"The Sioux," he says, "must be slippery fellows indeed, if I do not squeeze their language, and several other valuable things, out of them next winter. I expect to leave for the Mississippi this week, in a barge, with Mr. Rolette."
6th. Mr. D. H. Barnes, of the New York Lyceum of Natural History, reports that the shells sent to him from the mouth of the Columbia, and with which the Indians garnish their pouches, are a species of the Dentalium, particularly described in Jewett's "Narrative of the Loss of the Ship Boston at Nootka Sound." He transmits proof plates of the fresh water shells collected by Professor Douglass and myself on the late expedition to the sources of the Mississippi.
11th. The Adjutant-General of the Territory, General J. R. Williams, transmits me a commission as captain of an independent company of militia infantry, with a view, it is presumed, on the part of the executive, that it will tend to strengthen the capacity of resistance to an Indian combination on this frontier.
20th. Mr. Giles Sanford, of Erie, sends me a specimen of gypsum from Sandusky Bay, and a specimen of the strontian-yielding limestone of Put-in-Bay, Lake Erie.
September 10th. Judge Doty writes from Prairie du Chien, that he had a pleasant passage, with his family, of fifteen days from Mackinaw; that he is pleased with the place; and that the delegate election went almost unanimously for Major Biddle. A specimen of native copper, weighing four pounds, was found by Mr. Bolvin, at Pine River, a tributary from the north of the Wisconsin, agreeing in its characters with those in my cabinet from the basin of Lake Superior.
15th. Dr. John Bigsby, of Nottingham, England, writes from the North-West House, that he arrived yesterday from the Boundary Survey, and is desirous of exchanging some of his geological and conchological specimens for species in my possession. The doctor has a very bustling, clerk-like manner, which does not impress one with the quiet and repose of a philosopher. He evidently thinks we Americans, at this remote point, are mere barbarians, and have some shrewd design of making a chowder, or a speculation out of our granites, and agates, and native copper. Not a look or word, however, of mine was permitted to disturb the gentleman in his stilted notions.
16th. Major Joseph Delafield, with his party, report the Boundary Survey as completed to the contemplated point on the Lake of the Woods, as called for by the Treaty of Ghent. The ease and repose of the major's manners contrast rather favorably with the fussiness of the British subs.
26th. Mr. Felix Hinchman, of Mackinac, transmits returns of the recent delegate election, denoting the election of Major Biddle, by a rather close run, over the Catholic priestRichard.
October 9th. Mr. W.H. Shearman of Vernon, New York, writes that my boxes of minerals and fresh water shells are irretrievably lost; that Mr. Meech, of Geneva, remains mum on the subject; and that they have not arrived at Utica. Hard fate thus to be despoiled of the fruits of my labor!
14th. Mr. Ebenezer Brigham of Springfield, Illinois, an honest gentleman with whom I embarked at Pittsburgh, in the spring of 1818 for the great West and the land of fortune, writes a letter of friendly reminiscences and sympathies at my success, particularly in getting a healthy location. Brigham was to have been one of my adventurous party at Potosi, in the fall of 1818, but the fever and ague laid violent hands on him. He managed to reach Potosi, but only to bid me good-by, and a God-speed.
"In this country," he says, "life is at least fifty per cent, below par in the months of August and September. I have often thought that I run as great a risk every season which I spend here, as I would in an ordinary battle. I really believe it seldom happens that a greater proportion of an army fall victims to the sword, during a campaign, than there was, of the inhabitants of Illinois, falling victims to disease during a season that I have been here."
"I have little doubt but the trade of this part of the State of Illinois will pass through that channel (the northern lakes). Our produce is of a description that ought to find its way to a northern market, and that, too, without passing through a tropical climate. Our pork and beef may arrive at Chicago with nearly the same ease that it can at St. Louis; and, if packed there and taken through the lakes, would be much more valuable than if taken by the way of the South; besides, the posts spoken of (Chicago, Green Bay, &c.) may possibly be supplied cheaper from this than any other source."
"Moses Austin, I presume you have heard, is dead, and his son Stephen is acting a very conspicuous part in the province of Texas. Old Mr. Bates, and his son William, of Herculaneum, both died last summer."
"I should like to know if the same warlike disposition appears amongst the northern Indians that does amongst those of the west. Nearly, or quite every expedition to the west of the Mississippi in the fur trade, this season, has been attacked by different tribes, and some have been defeated and robbed, and a great many lives have been lost. Those in the neighborhood of this place, to wit, the Kickapoos and Potawattomies, are getting cross and troublesome. I should not be surprised if a war with the Indians generally should take place soon. The troops at the Council Bluffs have found it necessary to chastise one tribe already (the Aurickarees), which they have done pretty effectually, having killed a goodly number, and burnt their towns."
19th. Governor C. writes, in response to a letter detailing difficulties which have arisen oh this frontier between the military and citizens: "Military gentlemen, when stationed at remote posts, too often 'feel power and forget right,' and the history of our army is replete with instances proving incontestably by how frail a tenure our liberties would be held, were it not for the paramount authority and redeeming spirit of our civil institutions."
"I thank you," he observes, "for the specimens of copper you have sent me. I participate with you in your feelings upon the important discovery you have been the instrument of communicating to the world, respecting the existence of that metal upon the long point of Lake Superior. This circumstance, in conjunction with others, will, I hope, lead to a congressional appropriation, at the next session, for exploring that country, and making such purchases of the Indians as may promise the valuable supplies."
"My Indian materials are rapidly accumulating; but, unfortunately, they are more valuable for quantity than quality. It is almost impossible to rely upon the information which is communicated to me on the subject of the languages. There is a lamentable obtuseness of intellect manifested in both collector and contributor; and there is no systematic arrangement--no analytical process, and, in fact, no correctness of detail. I may safely say that what I received from you is more valuable than all my other stock.
"It has recurred to me that you ought to visit Europe. Don't startle at the suggestion! I have thought of it frequently. You might easily procure some person to execute your duties, &c., and I think there would be no difficulty in procuring permission from the government. I speak, however,without book. Think of the matter. I see incalculable advantages which would result to you from it, and you would go under very favorable auspices, and with a rich harvest of literary fame."
23d. B. F. Stickney, Esq., writes on the occasion of not having earlier acknowledged my memoir on the Fossil Tree of the Des Plaines, in Illinois. "How little we know of the laws of nature," he observes, "of which we profess to know so much."
Incidents of the year 1824--Indian researches--Diverse idioms of the Ottowa and Chippewa--Conflict of opinion between the civil and military authorities of the place--A winter of seclusion well spent--St. Paul's idea of languages--Examples in the Chippewa--The Chippewa a pure form of the Algonquin--Religion in the wilderness--Incidents--Congressional excitements--Commercial view of the copper mine question--Trip to Tackwymenon Falls, in Lake Superior.
1824.Jan. 1st. As soon as the business season closed, I resumed my Indian researches.
General C. writes: "The result of your inquiries into the Indian language is highly valuable and satisfactory. I return you my sincere thanks for the papers. I have examined them attentively. I should be happy to have you prosecute your inquiries into the manners, customs, &c., of the Indians. You are favorably situated, and have withal such unconquerable perseverance, that I must tax you more than other persons. My stock of materials, already ample, is rapidly increasing, and many new and important facts have been disclosed. It is really surprising that so little valuable information has been given to the world on this subject."
Mr. B.F. Stickney, formerly an agent at Fort Wayne, Indiana, writes from Depot (now Toledo): "I am pleased to see that your mind is engaged on the Chippewa language. It affords a field sufficiently extensive for the range of all the intellect and industry that the nation can bring into action. If the materials already collected should, after a scrutiny and arrangement, be thrown upon the literary world, it would excite so much interest as not to permit the inquiry thus to stop at the threshold. It is really an original inquiry concerning the operations of the human mind, wherein a portion of the human race, living apart from the rest, have independently devised means for the interchange of thoughts and ideas. Their grammatical rules are so widely different from all our European forms that it forces the mind to a retrospective view of first principles.
"I have observed the differences you mention between the Ottowa and Chippewa dialects. Notwithstanding I conceive them to be (as you observe) radically the same language, I think there is less difference between the band of Ottowas you mention, ofL'Arbre Croche, than the Ottowas of this vicinity. It appears that their languages are subject to very rapid changes. From not being written, they have no standard to resort to, and I have observed it demonstrated in bands of the same tribe, residing at considerable distances from each other, and having but little intercourse for half a century; these have with difficulty been able to understand each other.
"I am pleased to learn that you are still advancing the sciences of mineralogy and conchology. Your discovery of native silver imbedded in native copper is certainly a very extraordinary one."
28th. Major E. Cutler, commanding officer, applies to me, as a magistrate, to prosecute all citizens who have settled on the reserve at St. Mary's, and opened "shops for the sale of liquor." Not being a public prosecuting attorney, it does not appear how this can at all be done, without his designating the names of the offenders, and the offences for which they are to be tried.
30th. The same officer reports that his duties will not permit him to erect quarters for the Indian agent, which he is required to put up, till another year. If this step is to be regarded, as it seems, as a retaliatory measure for my not issuing process,en masse, against the citizens, without he or his subordinates condescending to name individuals, it manifests an utter ignorance of the first principles of law, and is certainly a queer request to be made of a justice of the peace. Nor does it appear how the adoption of such whims or assumptions is compatible with a just official comity or an enlarged sense of public duty, on his part, and pointed instructions, to boot, in co-operating with the Indian department on a remote and exposed frontier.
There seems to be a period, on the history of the frontiers, where conflicts between the military and civil authorities are almost inevitable; but there are, perhaps, few examples to be found where the former power has been more aggressively and offensively exercised than it has been under the martinet who is now in command at this post. It is an ancient point of settlement by the French, who are generally a mild and obliging people, and disposed to submit to authorities. Some of these are descended from persons who settled here under Louis XIV. That a few Americans have followed the troops with more rigid views of private rights, and who cannot be easily trampled on, is true. And the military have, justly, no doubt, felt annoyances from a freedom of trade with the soldiery, who cannot be kept within their pickets by bayonets and commands. But he must be far gone in his sublimated notions of self-complacency and temporary importance who supposes that a magistrate would surrender his sense of independence, and impartiality between man and man, by assuming new and unheard-of duties, at the beck of a military functionary who happens to overrate his own, or misjudge another's position.
March 31st. I have given no little part of the winter to a revision of my manuscript journal of travels through the Miami and Wabash Valleys in 1821. The season has been severe, and offered few inducements to go beyond the pale of the usual walk to my office, the cantonment, and to the village seated at the foot of the rapids. Variety, in this pursuit, has been sought, in turning from the transcription of these records of a tourist to the discussion of the principles of the Indian languages--a labor, if literary amusement can be deemed a labor, which was generally adjourned from my office, to be resumed in the domestic circle during the long winter evenings. A moral enjoyment has seldom yielded more of the fruits of pleasure. In truth, the winter has passed almost imperceptibly away. Tempests howled around us, without diminishing our comforts. We often stood, in the clear winter evenings, to gaze at the splendid displays of the Aurora Borealis. The cariole was sometimes put in requisition. We sometimes tied on the augim, or snow-shoe, and ventured over drifts of snow, whose depth rendered them impassable to the horse. We assembled twice a week, at a room, to listen to the chaste preaching of a man of deep-toned piety and sound judgment, whose life and manners resemble an apostle's.
In looking back at the scenes and studies of such a season, there was little to regret, and much to excite in the mind pleasing vistas of hope and anticipation. The spring came with less observation than had been devoted to the winter previous; and the usual harbingers of advancing warmth--the small singing birds and northern flowers--were present ere we were well aware of their welcome appearance.
Hope is a flower that fills the sentient mindWith sweets of rapturous and of heavenly kind;And those, who in her gardens love to tread,Alone can tell how soft the odors spread.HETHERWOLD.
April 20th. "There are, it may be," says Paul, "many kinds of voices in the world, and none of them is without signification." It could easily be proved that many of these voices are very rude; but it would take more philological acumen than was possessed by Horne Tooke to prove that any of them are without "signification." By the way, Tooke's "Diversions of Purley" does not seem to me so odd a title as it once appeared.
C. writes to me, under this date, "I pray you to push your philological inquiries as far as possible; and to them, add such views as you may be able to collect of the various topics embraced in my plan."
There is, undoubtedly, some danger that, in making the Indian history and languages a topic of investigation, the great practicable objects of their reclamation may be overlooked. We should be careful, while cultivating the mere literary element, not to palliate our delinquencies in philanthropic efforts in their behalf, under the notion that nothing can be effectively done, that the Indian is not accessible to moral truths, and that former efforts having failed of general results, such as those of Eliot and Brainerd, they are beyond the reach ofordinarymeans. I am inclined to believe that the error lies just here--that is, in the belief that some extraordinary effort is thought to be necessary, that their sons must be cooped up in boarding-schools and colleges, where they are taught many things wholly unsuited to their condition and wants, while the mass of the tribes is left at home, in the forests, in their ignorance and vices, untaught and neglected.
In the exemplification of St. Paul's idea, that all languages are given to men, with an exact significance of words and forms, and therefore not vaguely, there is the highest warrant for their study; and the time thus devoted cannot be deemed as wasted or thrown away. How shall a man say "raca," or "that fox," if there be no equivalents for the words in barbarous languages? The truth is that this people find no-difficulty in expressing the exact meanings, although the form of the words is peculiar. The derogative sense of sly and cunning, which is, in the original, implied by the demonstrative pronoun "that," a Chippewa would express by a mere inflection of the word fox, conveying a bad or reproachful idea; and the pronoun cannot be charged with an ironical meaning.
Inke-bau-diz-ze,which is an equivalent forraca, there is a personal pronominal prefix, and an objective pronominal suffix. The radix, inbaud, has thus the second person thou inke; and the objective inflection,iz-ze,means a person in a general sense. This reveals two forms of the Chippewa substantive, which are applicable to all words, and leaves nothing superfluous or without "significance." In fact, the whole language is susceptible of the most clear and exact analysis. This language is one of the most pure, clear, and comprehensive forms of the Algonquin.
May 20th. The Rev. Robert McMurtrie Laird, of Princess Anne, Maryland, but now temporarily at Detroit, writes to me in a spirit of affectionate kindness and Christian solicitude. The history of this pious man's labors on the remotest frontiers of Michigan is probably recorded where it will be known and acknowledged, in hymns of gladness, when this feeble and frail memorial of ink and paper has long perished.
Late in the autumn of 1823, he came, an unheralded stranger, to St. Mary's. No power but God's, it would seem, could have directed his footsteps there. There was everything to render them repulsive. The Indianwabenedrum, proclaiming the forest tribes to be under the influence of their native diviners and jossakeeds, was nightly sending forth its monotonous sounds. But he did not come to them. His object was the soldiery and settlement, to whom he could utter truths in the English tongue. He was assigned quarters in the cantonment, where an entire battalion of infantry-was then stationed. To all these, but one single family, it may be said that his preaching was received as "sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal." Certainly, there were the elements of almost everything else there but religion. And, while occupying a room in the fort, his fervent and holy spirit was often tried
"By most unseemly mirth and wassail rife."
He came to see me, at my office and at my lodgings, frequently during the season, and never came when he did not appear to me to be one of the purest and most devoted, yet gentle and most unostentatious, of human beings. It is hoped his labors were not without some witness to the truths which he so faithfully taught. But, as soon as the straits were relieved from the icy fetters of winter, he went away, never, perhaps, to see us more. He now writes to apprise me of the spread of a rumor respecting my personal interest in the theme of his labors, which had, without permission from his lips, reached the ears of some of my friends at Detroit. Blessed sensitiveness to rumor, how few possess it!
Having said this much, I may add that, in the course of the winter, my mind was arrested by his mode of exhibiting truth. The doctrine of the Trinity, which had seemed to me the mere jingle of a triad, as deduced from him, appeared to be a unity, which derived all its coherence and vitality from a belief in the Second Person. The word "Lord" became clothed with a majesty and power which rendered it inapplicable, in my views, to any human person. The assiduity that I had devoted, night and day, to my manuscripts, in the search after scientific truths, and the knowledge arising from study, did not appear to me to be wrong in itself, but was thought to be pursued with an intensity that withdrew my mind from, or, rather, had never allowed it properly to contemplate and appreciate the character of God.
23d. A literary friend writes: "I am rejoiced to learn that you have made such progress in your new work. I hope and trust that the celerity with which you have written has not withdrawn your attention from those subjects connected with literary success, which are more important than even time itself."
"My prospects of seeing you at the Sault, this season," writes the same hand, "grows weaker and weaker every day. I cannot ascertain in what situation Col. Benton's bill is, for the purchase of the copper country upon Lake Superior, nor the prospects of its eventual passage. Our last Washington dates are of the 8th instant, and at that time there was a vast mass of business pending before both Houses, and the period of adjournment was uncertain. Mr. Lowrie and Governor Edwards have furnished abundant matter for congressional excitement. It really appears to me that, as soon as two or three hundred men are associated together to talk at, and about one another, and everything else, their passions and feelings usurp the place of their reason. Like children, they are excited by every question having a local or personal aspect. Their powers of dispassionate deliberation are lost, and everything is forgotten but the momentary excitement."
25th. Commercial View of Copper Mine Question.--M.M. Dox, Esq., Collector at Buffalo, writes:--
I have long had it in contemplation to write to you, not only on the score of old friendship, but also to learn the feasibility of a scheme relating to the copper mines of Lake Superior. This subject has so often annoyed my meditations, or rather taken up so considerable a proportion of them, that I have been disposed, with the poet, to exclaim--
'Visions of (copper[42]) spare my aching sight.'
[42]"Glory."--Gray.
"I have just met Mr. Griswold, from whom I learn that you made some inquiries in reference to the price of transportation, &c. I will answer them for him. Copper in pig, or unmanufactured, is free of duty, on entry into the United States; its price in the New York market is, at this time (very low), sixteen cents per pound. Copper in sheets for sheeting of vessels (also free), about twenty-five cents per pound, and brazier's copper (paying a duty of fifteen per cent, on its cost in England), equal to about two and a half cents per pound. Until this year, and a few previous, the article has uniformly been from thirty to forty per cent, higher than the prices now quoted, that is, in time of peace. In time of war (in Europe) the price is enhanced ten or twenty per cent. above peace prices: and in this country, during the Late War, the price was, at one time, as high as $1.50 to $2.00 per pound.
"The history of England and this country does not furnish a period when copper was as low as at the present time, according to its relative value with the medium of exchange. Time and invention have developed richer mines and produced greater facilities for obtaining it; but the world does not probably know a region from whence the article can be furnished so cheaply as from the shores of Lake Superior. All accounts concur in representing the metal in that quarter of a superior quality, and furnish strong indications that it may be obtained, in quantities, with more than ordinary facility. When obtained, if on the navigable waters of the lake, the transportation to the strait will be easy and cheap, and the smelting not cost to exceed $20 per ton (for copper), and the transportation thence to New York one or one and a half cent per pound; one cent per pound, in addition, will carry it to any market in the world.
"If the difficulties to be incurred in obtaining the ore should prove to be no greater than may be reasonably anticipated, it is evident that it must be a very profitable business. Will the government then have the mines worked? I answer for them,No. The experience had by Congress in regard to the Indian trade (the Factory System) will, for many years at least, prevent that body from making any appropriation for such a purpose. The most safe and judicious course for the government is to draw private enterprise into the business; and, by holding out proper inducements, it will be enabled, without a dollar of extra expense, to derive, before many years, a handsome revenue from this source."
30th. Trip to Tacquimenon Falls, Lake Superior.--Accounts from the Indians represented the falls of the Tacquimenon River of Lake Superior as presenting picturesque features which were eminently worthy of a visit. Confined to the house during the winter, I thought an excursion proper. I determined to take the earliest opportunity, when the ice had left the lake, and before the turmoil of the summer's business began, to execute this wish. For this purpose, I took a canoe, with a crew of Chippewa Indians, with whom I was well acquainted, and who were familiar with the scene. I provisioned myself well, and took along my office interpreter. I found this arrangement was one which was agreeable to them, and it put them perfectly at their ease. They traveled along in the Indian manner, talking and laughing as they pleased with each other, and with the interpreter. Nothing could have been better suited to obtain an insight into their manners and opinions. One of their most common topics of talk was the flight of birds, particularly the carnivorous species, to which they addressed talks as they flew. This subject, I perceived, connected itself with the notions of war and the enemy's country.
On one occasion after we had entered Lake Superior, and were leisurely paddling, not remote from the shore, one of the Indians fired at, and wounded a duck. The bird could not rise so as to fly, but swam ashore, and, by the time we reached land, was completely missing. A white man would have been nonplused. Not so the Indian. He saw a fallen tree, and carefully looked for an orifice in the under side, and, when he found one, thrust in his hand and drew out of it the poor wounded bird. Frightened and in pain, it appeared to roll its eyeballs completely round.
By their conversation and familiar remarks, I observed that they were habitually under the influence of their peculiar mythology and religion. They referred to classes ofmonetos, which are spirits, in a manner which disclosed the belief that the woods and waters were replete with their agency. On the second day, we reached and entered the Tacquimenon River. It carried a deep and strong current to the foot of the first falls, which they call Fairy Rocks. This Indian word denotes a species of little men or fairies, which, they say, love to dwell on rocks. The falls are broken into innumerable cascades, which give them a peculiarly sylvan air. From the brink of these falls to the upper falls, a distance of about six miles, the channel of the river is a perfect torrent, and would seem to defy navigation. But before I was well aware of it, they had the canoe in it, with a single man with a long pole in the bow and stern. I took my seat between the centre bars, and was in admiration at the perfect composure andsangfroidwith which these two men managed it--now shooting across the stream to find better water, and always putting in their poles exactly at the right instant, and singing some Indian cantata all the while. The upper falls at length burst on our view, on rounding a point. The river has a complete drop, of some forty feet, over a formation of sandstone. The water forms a complete curtain. There is nothing to break the sheet, or intercept it, till it reaches the deep water below. They said there was some danger of the canoe's being drawn under the sheet, by a kind of suction. This' stream in fact, geologically considered, crosses through, and falls over, the high ridge of sandstone rock which stretches from Point Iroquois to the Pictured Rocks. I took sketches of both the upper and lower falls.
Being connected by marriage with an educated and intelligent lady, who is descended, by her mother's side, from the former ruler of the Chippewa nation--a man of renown--I was received, on this trip, with a degree of confidence and cordiality by the Indians, which I had not expected. I threw myself, naked handed, into their midst, and was received with a noble spirit of hospitality and welcome. And the incidents of this trip revealed to me some of the most interesting scenes of Indian domestic life.