Fig. 1The rock consists of a mass of native copper in a tabular boulder of serpentine. Its face is almost purely metallic, and more splendent than appears to consist with its being purely metallic copper. There is no appearance of oxidation. Its size, roughly measured, is three feet four inches, by three feet eight inches, and about twelve or fourteen inches thick in the thickest part. The weight of copper, exclusive of the rock, is not readily estimated; it may be a ton, or a ton and a half. Old authors report it at more than double this weight. The quantity has been, however, much diminished by visitors, who have cut freely from it. I obtained adequate specimens, but found my chisels too highly tempered, and my hammer not heavy enough to separate large masses. Having made the necessary examinations, we took our way back up the elevated banks of the river, and across the forest about six miles, to the final place of debarkation of Gov. Cass and his party. But our fears were at once excited on learning that the Governor, with his guide, Wabishkepenais, had not reached the camp. It was already beginning to be dark, and the gloom of night, which is impressive in these solitudes, was fast closing around us. Guns were fired, to denote our position, and a light canoe was immediately manned, placed in charge of one of the gentlemen, and sent up the river in search. This canoe had not proceeded a mile, when the object of search was descried, with his companions, sitting on the banks of the river, with a real jaded air, with his Indian guide standing at no great distance. Wabishkepenais had been bewildered in his tracks, andfinally struck the river by the merest chance. The Governor, on reaching camp, looked as if he had been carried over steeps and through gloomy defiles, which had completely exhausted his strength, and he was not long in retiring to his tent, willing to leave such rough explorations for the present, at least, to other persons, or, if he ever resumed them, to do it with better guides. Poor Wabishkepenais looked chagrined and as woebegone himself as if he had encountered the bad influences of half the spirits of his Indian mythology; for the fellow had really been lost in his own woods, and with a charge by whom he had felt honored, and employed his best skill to conduct. The camp-fires already threw their red glare among the trees as night spread her sable pall over us. The tents were pitched; the canoes turned up on the shore to serve as a canopy for the men to sleep under. Indians and Canadians were soon engaged at their favorite pipes, and mingled their tones and hilarious conversation; and we finally all slept the sounder for our eventful day's toils and misadventures. But deeply printed on our memory, and long to remain there, are the thrilling scenes of that day and that night.At five o'clock the next morning, the entire camp was roused and in motion, when we began to descend the stream. We had descended about ten miles, when the Ontonagon Indians stopped the canoes to examine a bear-fall, on the east bank. It was a fine open forest, elevated some six or eight feet above the water. It was soon announced that a bear was entrapped. We all ascended the bank, and visited the locality. The structure had been so planned that the animal must needs creep lowly under a crib of logs to get at the bait, which he no sooner disturbed than a weight of logs fell on his prostrated legs. The animal sat up partially on his fore paws, when we advanced, the hinder being pressed heavily to the earth. One of the Indians soon fired a ball through his head, but it did not kill him, he still kept his upright position. Dr. Wolcott then requested permission to fire a shot, which was aimed at the heart, and took effect about that part, but did not kill him. One of the Indians then dispatched him with an axe. He was no sooner dead than one of the Indians, stepping up, addressed him by the nameMuk-wah, shook him by the paw, with a smiling countenance, saying, in the Indian language, that he was sorry they had been under the necessity ofkilling him, and hoped the offence would be forgiven, as one of the shots fired had been from an American.[52]This act of the Indian addressing the bear, will be better understood, when it is stated that their mythology tells them, that the spirit of the animal must be encountered in a future state, when the enchantment to which it is condemned in this life, will be taken off.On passing down the river, an Indian had promised to disclose another mass of native copper, near the river, and we stopped at a spot indicated, to enable him to bring it. Whether he repented of his too free offer, agreeably to Indian superstition, or feared some calamity to follow the disclosure, or really encountered some difficulty in finding it, I know not, but it is certain that, after some time spent in the search, or affected search, he came back to the river without producing it.Soon after this incident, we reached the mouth of the river, and found the party left encamped at that point, in charge of Mr. Trowbridge and Mr. Doty, well, nothing having occurred in our absence. The wind was, however, adverse to our embarkation, had it been immediately desired.A council of the Ontonagon Indians was summoned, which met in the after part of the day; speeches were delivered, and replied to, and presents distributed. A silver medal was presented to Wabishkepenais.Head winds continuing, we were farther detained at this spot the following day. While thus detained, an Ontonagon Indian brought in a mass of native copper, from the banks of this river, weighing eight or nine pounds. This mass was of a flattened, orbicular shape, and its surface coated with a green oxide. At a subsequent part of my acquaintance with this river, another mass of native copper (still deposited in my cabinet) was brought to me, from the east fork of the river, which weighed from forty to fifty pounds. This mass, of a columnar shape, originally embraced a piece of stone which the Indian finding it had detached. It was also coated with a dark green oxide of copper. Both of these masses appeared to have been volcanic. Neither of them hadthe slightest traces of gangue, or vein-matter, nor of attrition in being removed from the parent beds. The following sketches depict the shapes of these masses.Fig. 2 and Fig. 3With respect to the general question of the mineral character of this part of the country, and the probable value of its mineral and metallic deposits to the public domain, the entire class of facts, from which a judgment must be formed, are favorable.[53]Salts and oxides of copper are not only seen in various places in its stratification, but these indications of mineral wealth in this article are confirmed, by the subsequent discovery of masses of native copper, along the shore, and imbedded in its traps and amygdaloids. In addition to the opportunities of observation furnished by this expedition, subsequent public duties led me to perform seven separate trips along its shores, and each of these but served to accumulate the evidences of its extraordinary mineral wealth. Indications of the sulphurets, arseniates, and other ores of this metal are found in the older class of horizontal rocks; but it is to the trap-rocks alone that we must look for the veins of native metal. Some of these masses contain silver, in a state of combination. Traces of this metal, chiefly in the boulder form, are found in the metalliferous horizontal strata. Nor is there wanting evidence, that there are localities of virgincopper, which do not promise a considerable percentage of the metal. A mass of steatite, imbedding a heavy mass of pure native silver, which had been probably carried from the northwest, with the drift stratum, was found cast out quite into the Huron basin; and this rock, in its intimate associations with the serpentine formation of Lake Superior, should be closely scrutinized. There is also a formation of slate and quartz in the primitive district, which is entitled to particular attention.Inorganic masses are developed, throughout the globe, without regard to climate. Russia yields the precious metals in great profusion, and there are no laws governing the distribution of these metals, which forbid the expectation that they should be abundantly disclosed by the stratification of the basin of Lake Superior. With respect to the useful metals, particularly copper and iron, it is undeniably the richest and most extensive locality of these metals on the globe.[54]CHAPTER VII.Proceed along the southern coast of Lake Superior from the Ontonagon, to Fond du Lac—Porcupine range of mountains—Streams that run from it, at parallel distances, into the lake—La Pointe—Group of the Federation Islands—River St. Louis—Physical geography of Lake Superior.Head winds detained the expedition at the mouth of the Ontonagon, during the day and the day following that of our arrival from the copper rock. It was the first of July, at half-past four o'clock, A. M., when the state of the lake permitted us to embark. Steering west, we now had the prominent object of the Porcupine Mountains constantly in view. At the distance of fifteen miles, we passed the Pewabik Seebe, or Iron River. This stream, after ascending it a couple of miles, is a mere torrent, pouring from the Porcupine Mountains, over a very rough bed of grauwakke, which forbids all navigation. At the computed distance of five leagues beyond this stream, we passed the river called Pusábika, or Dented River, so called from standing rocks, which resemble broken human teeth. The Canadians, who, as previously remarked, appear to have had but a limited geographical vocabulary, called this Carp River, neglectful of the fact that they had already bestowed the name on a small river which flows into the bay south of Granite Point.[55]We were now at the foot of the Kaug range, which is one vast upheaval of trap-rock, and has lifted the chocolate-colored sandstone, at its base, into a vertical position. The Pusábika River originates in this high trap range, from which it is precipitated, at successive leaps, to the level of the lake, the nearest of which, a cascade of forty feet, is within three miles of the river's mouth.Six miles further brought us to the Presque Isle River of the Canadians, for which I heard no Indian name. It also originates on this lofty trap range, and has worn its bed through frightful chasms in the grauwackke, through which it enters the lake. Within half a mile of its entrance, the river, hastening from its elevations, drops into a vast cauldron scooped in the grauwackke rock, whence it glides into the lake. Here are some picturesque and sublime views, worthy the pencil.Two leagues beyond this river we reached and passed the entrance of Black River, another of the streams from the Kaug range. It is stated to be rapid, and to have its source south of the mountains, in a district sheltered from the lake winds, and suited to agriculture. Its borders bear at the same time indications of mineral wealth. Eight miles beyond this river, we encamped on the open shores of the lake, after travelling fifty miles. Having been doubled up in the canoe for all this distance, landing on terra firma, and being able to stretch one's legs, seemed quite a relief. "I will break a lance with you," quoth A to B, addressing Mr. Trowbridge, offering him at the same time a dried stalk, which had been cast up by the waves. We were, in fact, as much pleased to get ashore, after the day's confinement, as so many boys let loose from confinement in school. In strolling along the shore, I recognized the erismatolite, in the dark upheaved sandstone at this locality.We here observed a phenomenon, which is alluded to by Charlevoix as peculiar to this lake. Although it was calm, and had been so all day, save a light breeze for a couple of hours after leaving the Ontonagon, the waters near shore were in a perfect rage, heaving and lashing upon the rocks, in a manner which rendered it difficult to land. At the same time, scarce a breath of air was stirring, and the atmosphere was beautifully serene.On passing thirteen miles, the next morning, we reached the mouth of the Montreal River, which is the last of the mountain streams of the Kaug range. It throws itself from a high precipice of the vertical sand-rock, within sight of the lake, creating quite a picturesque view.[56](VideInformation respecting the History, Customs, and Prospects of Indian Tribes, vol. iv. plate 26.)On landing here a few moments, at an early hour, the air beinghazy, we knocked down some pigeons, which flew very low.[57]This bird seems to be precisely the common pigeon of the Atlantic borders. The Indians had constructed a fish-weir between the lake and Montreal falls, where the lake sturgeon are caught.After passing about a league beyond the Montreal, the voyager reaches a curve in the lake shore, at which it bends to the north and northwest. This curve is observed to extend to the De Tour of the great bay of Fond du Lac, a computed distance of thevoyageursof thirty-six miles, which, as before indicated, is about one-third overrated. The immediate shore is a level plain of sand, which continues to Point Chegoimegon, say eighteen miles. About two-thirds of this distance, the Muskeego[58]River enters through the sandy plain from the west. This is a large stream, consisting of two primary forks, one of which connects it with Chippewa River, and the other with the River St. Croix of the Mississippi. The difficulties attending its ascent, from rapids and portages, have led the French to call it Mauvaise, or Bad River.[59]Passing this river, we continued along the sandy formation to its extreme termination, which separates the Bay of St. Charles by a strait from that remarkable group of islands, called the Twelve Apostles by Carwer. It is this sandy point, which is called La Pointe Chagoimegon[60]by the old French authors, a term now shortened to La Pointe. Instead of "twelve," there are, however, nearer thirty islands, agreeably to the subjoined sketch, by which it is seen that each State in the Union may stand sponsor for one of them, and they might be more appropriately called theFederation Group. Touching at the inner or largest of the group, we found it occupied by a Chippewa village, under a chief called Bezhike. There was a tenement occupied by a Mr. M. Cadotte, who has allied himself to the Chippewas. Hence we proceeded about eleven miles to the main shore, where we encamped at a rather late hour. I here found a recurrence of the granitic, sienitic, and hornblende rocks, in high orbicular hills, and improved the brief time of daylight to explore the vicinity. The evening proved lowering and dark, and this eventuated in rain, which continued all night, and until six o'clock the next morning. Embarking at this hour, we proceeded northwest about eight miles, to Raspberry River, and southwest to Sandy River. Here we were driven ashore by a threatening tempest, and before we had unladen the canoes, there fell one of the most copious and heavy showers of rain. The water seemed fairly to pour from the clouds. We had not pitched a tent, nor could the slightest shelter be found. There seemed but one option at our command, namely, that between sitting and standing. We chose the latter, and looked at each other, it may be, foolishly, while this rain tempest poured. When it was over, we were as completely wetted as if it had been our doom to lay at the bottom of the lake. When the rain ceased, the wind rose directly ahead, which confined us to that spot the rest of the day. The next day was the Fourth of July—a day consecrated in our remembrance, but which we could do no more than remember. The wind continued to blow adversely till about two o'clock, when we embarked, not without feeling the lake still laboring under the agitation into which it had been thrown. On travelling three miles, we turned the prominent point, called De Tour of Fond du Lac. At this point our course changed from northwest to south-southwest.The sandstone formation here showed itself for the last time. The shore soon assumes a diluvial character, bordered with long lines of yellow sand and pebbles. In some places, heavy beds of pure iron sand were observed. The agitation which marked the lake soon subsided, under the change of wind, and our men seemed determined, by the diligence with which they worked, to make amends for our delay at Sandy River.At eight o'clock in the evening we came to Cranberry River and encamped, having, by their estimation, come twenty-three miles. The evening was perfectly clear and calm, with a striking twilight, which was remarked all night. These lengthened twilights form a very observable feature as we proceed north. Mackenzie says that, in lat. 67° 47´, on the 11th of July, 1789, he saw the sun above the horizon at twelve o'clock P.M.The calmness and beauty of the night, and our chief's anxiety to press forward, made this a short night. Gen. Cass aroused the camp at a very early hour, so that at three o'clock we were again upon the lake, urging our way up the Fond du Lac Bay. The sun rose above the horizon at ten minutes before four o'clock. The morning was clear and brilliant. Not a cloud obscured the sky, and the waves of the lake spread out with the brightness of a mirror. At the distance of five leagues, we passed the mouth of the Wisakoda, or Broule River,[61]a stream which forms the connecting link with the Mississippi River, through the St. Croix. Three miles beyond this point we landed a short time, on the shore, where we observed a stratum of iron sand, pure and black, a foot in thickness.At eleven o'clock, a northeast wind arose, which enabled the expedition to hoist sail. Land on the north shore had for some time been in sight, across the bay, and the line of coast soon closed in front, denoting that we had reached the head of the lake. At twelve o'clock, we entered the month of the River St. Louis, having been eighteen days in passing this lake, including the trip to the Ontonagon.Before quitting Lake Superior, whose entire length we have now traversed, one or two generic remarks may be made; and the first respects its aboriginal name. The Algonquins, who, in the Chippewa tribe, were found in possession of it, on the arrival of the French, early in the seventeenth century, applied the same radical word to it which they bestow on the sea, namely, Gum-ee (Collected water), or, as it is sometimes pronounced, Gom-ee, or Go-ma; with this difference, that the adjective big (gitchè) prefixed to this term for Lake Superior, is repeated when it is applied to the sea. The superlative is formed when it is meant to be very emphatic, in this language, by the repetition of the adjective; a principle, indeed, quite common to the Indian grammars generally. The word did not commend itself to French or English ears, so much as to lead to its adoption. By taking the syllable Al from Algonquin, as a prefix, instead of gitchè, we have the more poetic combination of Algoma.Geographers have estimated the depth of this lake at nine hundred feet. By the surveys of the engineers of the New York and Erie Canal, the surface of Lake Erie is shown to be five hundred and sixty feet above tide-water, which, agreeably to estimates kept on the present journey, lies fifty-two feet below the level of Lake Superior. These data would carry the bottom of the lake two hundred and eighty-eight feet below tide water. What is more certain is this, that it has been the theatre of ancient volcanic action, which has thrown its trap-rocks into high precipices around its northern shores and some of its islands, and lifted up vast ranges of sandstone rocks into a vertical position, as is seen at the base of the Porcupine Mountains. Its latest action appears to have been in its western portion, as is proved by the upheaval of the horizontal strata; and it may be inferred that its bed is very rough and unequal.The western termination of the lake, in the great bay of Fond du Lac, denotes a double or masked shore, which appears to havebeen formed of pebbles and sands, driven up by the tempests, at the distance of a mile or two, outside of the original shore. The result is shown by an elongated piece of water, resembling a lake, which receives at the north, the River St. Louis, and theAgoche, or Lefthand River, at its south extremity.About three miles above the mouth of the river, we landed at a Chippewa village. While exchanging the usual salutations with them, we noticed the children of an African, who had intermarried with this tribe. These children were the third in descent from Bongo, a freed man of a former British commanding officer at the Island of Michilimackinac. They possessed as black skins as the father, a fact which may be accounted for by observing, what I afterwards learned, that the marriages were, in the case of the grandfather and father, with the pure Indian, and not with Africano-Algonquin blood; so that there had been no direct advance in the genealogical line.The St. Louis River discharges a large volume of water, and is destined hereafter to be a port of entry for the lake shipping, but at present it has shoals of sand at its mouth which would bar the entrance of large vessels. Proceeding up the river, we found it very serpentine, and abounding in aquatic plants, portions of it yielding the wild rice. At the computed distance of twenty-four miles, we reached the establishment of the American Fur Company. It was seven o'clock when we came to the place, where we encamped.Lake Superior is called by the Chippewas a sea.The superficial area of the lake has been computed by Mr. Darby at a little under nine hundred billions of feet, and its depth at nine hundred feet. By the latest surveys and estimate, the altitude of Lake Superior above tide water, is about six hundred and forty feet.[62]Allowing Mr. Darby's computation to be correct, this would sink its bed far below the surface of the Atlantic.This lake has been the theatre of very extensive volcanic action. Vast dykes of trap traverse its northern shores. One of the principal of these has apparently extended across its bed, from northeast to southwest, to the long peninsula of Keweena, producing at the same time, the elevated range of the OkaugMountains. One of the most remarkable features of these dykes is the numerous and extensive veins of native copper which characterize them. Subsequent convulsions, and the demolition of these ancient dykes, by storms and tempests, have scattered along its shores abundant evidence of the metal and its ores and veinstones, which have attracted notice from the earliest time. The geology of its southern coasts may be glanced at, and inferred, from the subjoined outlines.Geological outline of Lake Superior.The teachings of topography, applied to commerce, are wonderful. A longitudinal line, dropped south, from this point, would cross the Mississippi at the foot of Lake Pepin, and pass through Jefferson city on the Missouri. When, therefore, a ship canal shall be made at St. Mary's Falls, vessels of large tonnage may sail from Oswego (by the Welland canal) and Buffalo, through a line of inter-oceanic seas, nearer to the foot of the Rocky Mountains, by several hundred miles, than by any other possible route. A railroad line from Fond du Lac west to the Columbia valley, would also form the shortest and most direct transit route from the Pacific to New York. Such a road would have the advantage of passing through a region favorable to agriculture, which cannot but develop abundant resources.CHAPTER VIII.Proceed up the St. Louis River, and around its falls and rapids to Sandy Lake in the valley of the Upper Mississippi—Grand Portage—Portage aux Coteaux—A sub-exploring party—Cross the great morass of Akeek Scepi to Sandy Lake—Indian mode of pictographic writing—Site of an Indian jonglery—Post of Sandy Lake.We had now reached above nine hundred and fifty miles from our starting-point at Detroit, and had been more than forty days in traversing the shores of Lakes Huron and Superior. July had already commenced, and no time was to be lost in reaching our extreme point of destination. Every exertion was therefore made to push ahead. By ten o'clock of the morning after our arrival at the Fond du Lac post, we embarked, and after going two miles reached the foot of the first rapids of the St. Louis. This spot is called the commencement of the Grand Portage—over this path all the goods, provisions, and canoes are to be carried by hand nine miles. During this distance, the St. Louis River, a stream of prime magnitude, bursts through the high trap range of what Bouchette calls the Cabotian Mountains, being a continuation of the upheavals of the north shore of Lake Superior, the river leaping and foaming, from crag to crag, in a manner which creates some of the most grand and picturesque views. We sometimes stood gazing at their precipices and falls, with admiration, and often heard their roar on our path, when we were miles away from them. Capt. Douglass estimated the river to fall one hundred and eight feet during the first nine miles; and from estimates furnished me by Dr. Wolcott, the aggregate fall from the mouth of the Savannè, to that point, is two hundred and twelve feet. We found the first part of the ascent of its banks very precipitous and difficult, particularly for the men who bore burdens, and what rendered the labor almost insupportable wasthe heat, which stood at 82°, in the shade, at noon. We made but fivepausesthe first day; and were three days on the portage. It rained the second day, which added much to the difficulty of our progress. We now found ourselves, at every step, advancing into a wild and rugged region. Everything around us wore the aspect of remoteness. Dark forests, swampy grounds, rocky precipices, and the distant roaring of the river, as it leapt from rock to rock, would have sufficiently impressed the mind with the presence of the wilderness, without heavy rains, miry paths, and the train of wild and picturesque Indians, who constituted a part of our carriers.The rocks, at the foot of the portage, consisted of horizontal red sandstone. On reaching the head of it, we found argillite in a vertical position. I found the latter, in some places, pervaded by thin veins of quartz, and in one instance by grauwackke. At one spot there was a small vein of coarse graphite in the argillite. Large blocks of black crystallized hornblende rock lie along the shores, where we again reached the river, and are often seen on its bed, amid the swift-running water, but I did not observe this rock in place. Among the loose stones at the foot of the portage, I picked up a specimen of micaceous oxide of iron. Such are the gleams of its geology and mineralogy. The growth of the forest is pines, hemlock, spruce, birch, oak, and maple. In favorable situations, I observed the common red raspberry, ripe.On embarking above the portage, the expedition occupied seven canoes, of a size most suitable for this species of navigation. Our Indian auxiliaries from Fond du Lac were here rewarded, and dismissed. On ascending six miles, we reached the Portage aux Coteaux, so called from the carrying path lying over a surface of vertical argillite. This rock, standing up in the bed, or on the banks of the stream, with a scanty overhanging foliage of cedar, gives a peculiarly wild and abrupt aspect to the scene; which is by no means lessened by the loud roaring of the waters. There is a fall and rapid at this portage, where the river, it may be estimated, sinks its level about fourteen feet.We encamped at the head of this portage, where the water again permits the canoes to be put in. Thus far, we had found this stream a broad, flowing torrent, but owing to its rapids and rocks, anything but favorable to its navigation by boats, or canoesof heavy burden. His excellency Gov. Cass, therefore, determined to relieve the river party, by detaching a sub-expedition across the country to Sandy Lake. It was thought proper that I should accompany this party. It consisted, besides, of Lieut. Mackay, with eight soldiers, and of Mr. Doty, Mr. Trowbridge, and Mr. Chase. We were provided with an interpreter and two Chippewa guides, being sixteen persons in all.Thus organized, we left the camp at the head of the portage, the following morning, at six o'clock. Each one carried provisions for five days, a knife, a musquito bar, and a blanket or cloak. There were a few guns taken, but generally this was thought to be an incumbrance, as we expected to see little game and to encounter a toilsome tramp. The guides, taking their course by the sun, struck west into a close forest of pine, hemlock, and underbrush, which required energy to push through. On travelling a couple of miles, we fell into an Indian path leading in the required direction; but this path, after passing through two ponds, and some marshes, eventually lost itself in swamps. These marshes, after following through them, about four miles, were succeeded by an elevated dry sandy barren, with occasional clumps of pitch pine, and with a surface of shrubbery. Walking over this dry tract was quite a relief. We then entered a thick forest of young spruce and hemlock. Two miles of this brought us to the banks of a small lake, with clear water, and a pebbly shore. Having no canoe to cross it, our guides led us around its southern shores. The fallen timber and brush rendered this a very difficult march. To avoid these obstructions, as they approached the head of the lake, we eventually took its margin, occasionally leading into the water. While passing these shores, I picked up some specimens of the water-worn agates, for which the diluvians in this quarter are remarkable. We now fell into an old Indian path, which led to two small lakes, similar in size, to the former one, but with marshy borders, and reddish water. These small lakes were filled with pond lilies, rushes, and wild rice. At the margin of the second lake, the path ceased, and the guides could not afterwards find it. The path terminated abruptly at the second lake. While searching about this, Chamees,[63]one of the Indian guides, found a large green tortoise, which he and his companion killed in a very ingenious and effectual way, by a blow from a hatchet on the neck, at the point where the shell or buckler terminates. After leaving this water, they appeared to be in doubt about the way; almost imperceptibly, we found ourselves in a great tamarak swamp. The bogs and moss served to cover up, almost completely, the fallen trees, and formed so elastic a carpet as to sink deep at every tread. Occasionally they broke through, letting the foot into the mire. This proved a very fatiguing tramp. To add to its toils, it rained at intervals all day. We were eleven hours in passing this swamp, and estimated, and probably over-estimated ourselves to have past twenty miles. We encamped at five o'clock near the shores of a third small lake, each one picking out for himself the most elevated spot possible, and the person who got a position most completely out of the water was the best man. It is fatigue, however, that makes sleep a welcome guest, and we awoke without any cause of complaint on that score.The next morning, as we were about to depart, we observed near the camp-fire of our guides a pole leaning in the direction we were to go, with a birch-bark inscription inserted in a slit in the top of the pole. This was too curious an object not to excite marked attention, and we took it down to examine the hieroglyphics, or symbols, which had been inscribed with charcoal on the birch scroll. We found the party minutely depicted by symbols. The figures of eight muskets denoted that there were eight soldiers in the party. The usual figure for a man, namely, a closed cross with a head, thus:—and one hand holding a sword, told the tale that they were commanded by an officer. Mr. Doty was drawn with a book, they having understood that he was a lawyer. I was depicted with a hammer, to denote a mineralogist. Mr. Trowbridge and Mr. Chase, and the interpreter, were also depicted. Chamees and his companion were drawn by a camp-fire apart, and the figure ofthe tortoise and a prairie-hen denoted the day's hunt. There were three hacks on the pole, which leaned to the N. W., denoting our course of travel. Having examined this unique memorial, it was carefully replaced in its former position, when we again set forward. It appeared we had rested in a sort of oasis in the swamp, for we soon entered into a section of a decidedly worse character than that we had passed the day before. The windfalls and decaying timber were more frequent—the bogs, if possible, more elastic—the spots dry enough to halt on, more infrequent, and the water more highly colored with infusions of decaying vegetable matter. We urged our way across this tract of morass for nine hours, during which we estimated our progress at fourteen miles, and encamped about four o'clock P. M., in a complete state of exhaustion. Even our Indian guides demanded a halt; and what had, indeed, added to our discouragements, was the uncertainty of their way, which they had manifested.Our second night's repose in this swampy tract, was on ground just elevated above the water; the mosquitos were so pertinacious at this spot as to leave us but little rest. From information given by our guides, this wide tract of morass constitutes the sources of the Akeek Seebi, or Kettle River, which is one of the remotest sources of the Mille Lac, and, through that body of water, of Rum River. It is visited only by the Indians, at the proper season for trapping the beaver, marten, and muskrat. During our transit through it, we came to open spaces where the cranberry was abundant. In the same locality, we found the ripe fruit, green berries, and blossoms of this fruit.It was five o'clock A. M. when we resumed our march through this toilsome tract, and we passed out of it, after pressing forward with our best might, during twelve hours. We had been observant of the perplexity of our guides, who had unwittingly, we thought, plunged us into this dreary and seemingly endless morass, and were rejoiced, on a sudden, to hear them raise loud shouts. They had reached a part of the country known to them, and took this mode to express their joy, and we soon found ourselves on the banks of a small clear stream, called by them Bezhiki Seebi, or Buffalo Creek, a tributary to Sandy Lake. We had, at length, reached waters flowing into the Mississippi. On this stream we prepared to encamp, in high spirits, feeling, asthose are apt to who have long labored at an object, a pleasure in some measure proportioned to the exertions made.Any other people but the Indians would feel ill at ease in dreary regions like these. But these sons of the forest appear to carry all their socialities with them, even in the most forbidding solitudes. They are so familiarized with the notions of demons and spirits, that the wildest solitude is replete with objects of hope and fear. We had evidence of this, just before we encamped on the banks of the Bezhiki, when we came to a cleared spot, which had been occupied by what the Canadians, with much force, call ajonglery, or place of necromantic ceremonies of their priests or jossakeeds. There were left standing of this structure six or eight smooth posts of equal length, standing perpendicularly. These had been carefully peeled, and painted with a species of ochrey clay. The curtains of bark, extending between them, and isolating the powow, or operator, had been removed; but the precincts had the appearance of having been carefully cleared of brush, and the ground levelled, for the purposes of these sacred orgies, which exercise so much influence on Indian society.We were awaked in our encampment, between four and five o'clock, the next morning, by a shower of rain. Jumping up, and taking our customary meal of jerked beef and biscuit, we now followed our guides, with alacrity, over a dry and uneven surface, towards Sandy Lake. We had now been three days in accomplishing the traverse over this broad and elevated, yet sphagnous summit, separating the valley of the St. Louis of Lake Superior from that of the Upper Mississippi. As we approached the basin of Sandy Lake, we passed over several sandy ridges, bearing the white and yellow pine; the surface and its depressions bearing the wild cherry, poplar, hazel, ledum latifolia, and other usual growth and shrubs of the latitude. On the dry sandy tracts the uva ursi, or kinnikinnik of the Indians, was noticed. In the mineral constitution of the ridges themselves, the geologist recognizes that wide-spreading drift-stratum, with boulders and pebbles of sienitic and hornblende, quartz, and sandstone rock, which is so prevalent in the region. As we approached the lake we ascended one of those sandy ridges which surround it, and dashing our way through the dense underbrush, were gratifiedon gaining its apex to behold the sylvan shores and islands of the lake, with the trading-post and flag, seen dimly in the distance. The view is preserved in the following outlines, taken on the spot.Sandy Lake, from an eminence north of the mouth of the West Creek of the Portage of Savannah. 15th July, 1820.I asked Chamees the Indian name of this lake. He replied, Ka-metong-aug-e-maug. This is one of those compound terms, in their languages, of which the particlekais affirmative. Metongaug, is the plural form of sandy lake. Maug is the plural form of water, corresponding, by the usual grammatical duality of meaning, to the plural form of the noun. The word might, perhaps, be adopted in the form of Kametonga.Having heard, on our passage through Lake Superior, that a gun fired in the basin of Sandy Lake, could be heard at the fort, that experiment was tried, while we sat down or sauntered about to await the result. Having waited in vain, the shots were repeated. After the lapse of a long time, a boat, with two men, was descried in the distance approaching. It proved to be occupied by two young clerks of the trading establishment, named Ashmun and Fairbanks. They managed to embark the elite of our party, in their small vessel, and, as we crossed the lake, amused us with an account of the excitement our shots had caused. Some Indian women affirmed to them that they had heard warwhoops, and to make sure that a Sioux war party were not upon them, they drove off their cattle to a place of safety. In the actual position of affairs, the hunt being over forthe year, and the avails being sent to Michilimackinac (for this was the head-quarters of the factor whom we had met at Shelldrake River), the probabilities of its being a hunting party were less. We informed them that we were an advance party of an expedition sent out to explore the sources of the Mississippi River, under the personal order of his Excellency Governor Cass, who was urging his way up the St. Louis to the Savanna Portage, through which he intended to descend into Sandy Lake.It was near sunset before we landed at the establishment. We found the trading fort a stockade of squared pine timber, thirteen feet high, and facing an area a hundred feet square, with bastions pierced for musketry at the southeast and northwest angles. There were three or four acres outside of one of the angles, picketed in, and devoted to the culture of potatoes. The stockade inclosed two ranges of buildings. This is the post visited by Lieut. Z. Pike, U. S. A., on snow-shoes, and with dog-trains, in the winter of 1806, when it was occupied by the British northwest trading company. As a deep mantle of snow covered the country, it did not permit minute observations on the topography or natural history; and there have been no explorations since. Pike's chief error was in placing the source of the Mississippi in Turtle Lake—a mistake which is due entirely, it is believed, to the imperfect or false maps furnished him by the chief traders of the time.We were received with all the hospitality possible, in the actual state of things, and with every kindness; and for the first time, since leaving Detroit, we slept in a house. We were informed that we were now within two miles of the Mississippi River, into which the outlet of Sandy Lake emptied itself, and that we were five hundred miles above the Falls of St. Anthony. We had accomplished the transference of position from the head of the basin of Lake Superior, that is, from the foot of the falls of the St. Louis River, in seven days, by a route, too, certainly one of the worst imaginable, and there can be no temerity in supposing that it might be effected in light canoes in half that time.CHAPTER IX.Reunion of the expedition on the Savanna Portage—Elevation of this summit—Descent to Sandy Lake—Council with the Chippewa tribe—Who are they?—Traits of their history, language, and customs—Enter the Mississippi, with a sub-exploring party, and proceed in search of its source—Physical characteristics of the stream at this place—Character of the Canadian voyageur!On rising on the next morning (14th July), our minds were firmly set, at the earliest moment, to rejoin the main expedition, which had been toiling its way up the St. Louis River to the Savanna Portage. And as soon as we had dispatched our breakfast at the Post, we set out, accompanied by one of the trading clerks, for that noted carrying place between the waters of the St. Louis and Sandy Lake. We reached its northwestern terminus at about twelve o'clock, and were surprised to find Gov. Cass, with some of his party, and a part of the baggage, already there; and by five o'clock in the afternoon the last of the latter, together with the canoes, arrived. And it was then, in the exhausted state of the men, and at so late an hour, concluded to encamp, and await the morning to commence the descent of the west Savannè to the lake.The expedition had, after we left them at the Portage aux Coteaux on the 10th, and being thus relieved of our weight, urged its way up the river, with labor, about fifty-six miles, to the inlet of the east Savannè, having surmounted, in this distance, rapids of the aggregate estimated height of two hundred and twelve feet, which occupied two days. They then ascended the Savannè twenty-four miles, rising eighteen feet. The portage, from water to water, is six miles. It commences in a tamarak swamp, from which the bog, in a dry season, has been burnt off, leaving the path a mass of mire. Trees and sticks have, from time to time, been laid in this to walk on, which it requires theskill of a balancing master to keep. For the distance of threepozes[pauses] this is the condition of the path; afterwards, the footing becomes dry, and there are ascending sand ridges, which are easily crossed.Dr. Wolcott, to whom I had handed my geological note-book, made the following observations. "We left the vertical strata of slate, about two miles above the Portage aux Coteaux. They were succeeded by rocks of hornblende, which continued the whole distance to the head of the Grand Rapid. These rocks were only to be observed in the bed of the river, and appeared to be much water-worn, and manifestly out of place. Soon after we left the Portage aux Coteaux, the hills receded from the river, and its banks for the rest of the way were generally low, often alluvial, and always covered with a thick growth of birch, elm, sugar-tree (acer saccharinum), and the whole tribe of pines, with an almost impenetrable thicket of underbrush."The appearances of this day (11th) have been similar to those of yesterday, except that the country bordering the river became entirely alluvial, and the poplar became the predominating growth, while the evergreen almost entirely disappeared. The rocks were seldom visible, except upon the rapids, and then only in the bed of the river, and were entirely composed of hornblende, all out of place, and exhibiting no signs of stratification, but evidently thrown confusedly together by the force of the current."The Savannè River is about twenty yards broad at its junction with the St. Louis, but soon narrows to about half the breadth, which it retains until it forks at the distance of about twelve miles from its mouth. Its whole course runs through a low marshy meadow, the timbered land occasionally reaching to the banks of the river, but generally keeping a distance of about twenty rods on either side. The meadow is, for the most part, covered with tufts of willow and other shrubs, common to marshes. The woods, which skirt it, are of the same kinds observed on the preceding days, except that a species of small oak frequently appears among it. The river becomes so narrow towards its head, that it is with great difficulty canoes can make their way through its windings; and the portage commences a mile or two from its source, which is in a tamarak swamp."The height of land between the east and west Savannè, Dr.Wolcott estimates at about thirty feet. Adding to this elevation the estimates of Capt. Douglass, before mentioned, the entire elevation between the foot of the falls of the St. Louis and the apex of this summit is three hundred and sixty-eight feet.[64]Having exchanged congratulations, and recited to each other the little personal incidents which had marked our respective tracks of entry into the country, we passed the night on the sources of this little stream; and the next morning, at five o'clock, began its descent. It is a mere brook, only deep enough, at this spot, to embark the canoes, and two men to manage them. At the distances of four, and of twelve miles, there are rapids, where half the loads are carried over portages. At the foot of the latter rapid, there is a tributary called Ox Creek, and from this point to the lake, a distance of six miles, the navigation is practicable with full loads. We entered the lake with pleasurable feelings, at the accomplishment of our transit over this summit, and after a passage of three miles over the calm and sylvan surface of the lake, the expedition reached and landed at the company's fort. It was now four o'clock in the afternoon of a most serene day, and the Indians, who were gathered on the shores, received us with a salutea la mode de savage, that is, with balls fired over our heads. Quarters were provided in the fort for such as did not prefer to lodge in tents. Understanding that there was to be a day's rest at this post, to reorganize the party, and hold intercourse with the Indians, each one prepared to make such use of his time as best subserved his purposes. Finding my baggage had been wetted and damaged on the portages in the ascent of the St. Louis, I separated the moulded and ruined from things still worth saving, and drying the latter in the sun, prepared them for further use.On the day after our arrival (16th) a council of the Indians—the Chippewas—was convened. The principal chiefs were Kadewabedas,[65]or Broken Teeth, and Babisekundeba,[66]or the Curly Head. This tribe, it appears, are conquerors in the country, having atan early, or ante-historical age, advanced from Lake Superior, driving back the Sioux. The war between these two tribes is known to have existed since the first entry of the French into the country—then a part of New France—early in the seventeenth century. Gov. Cass proposed to them to enter into a firm peace with the Sioux, and to send a delegation with him to St. Peter's, on his return from the sources of the Mississippi. To this they assented. Speeches were made by the Indians, which it is not my purpose to record, as they embraced nothing beyond the ordinary, every-day style of the native speakers.It was determined to encamp the heavy part of the expedition at this place, and to organize a sub-expedition of two light canoes, well manned, to explore the sources of the Mississippi River. While these arrangements are in progress, it may be proper to state something more respecting the condition and history of the Chippewa nation. And first, they are Algonquins, having migrated, at ante-Cartierian[67]periods, from the vicinity of Lake Nippesing, on the Outawis summit. Anterior to this, their own traditions place them further eastward, and their language bears evidence that the stock from which they are sprung, occupied the Atlantic from the Chesapeake, extending through New England. The name Chippewa is derived from the term Ojibwa. The latter has been variously, but not satisfactorily derived. The particlebwa, in the language, signifies voice. They are a well-formed, active race of men, and have the reputation of being good hunters and warriors. They possess the ordinary black shining eyes, black straight hair, and general physiological traits of the Indian race; and do not differ, essentially, from the northern tribes in their manners and customs. Pike, who was the first American officer to visit them, in this region, estimates the whole number seated on the Upper Mississippi, and northwest of Lake Superior, in the year 1806, at eleven thousand one hundred and seventy-seven. This estimate includes the entire population, extending south to the St. Croix and Chippewa valleys, below St. Anthony's Falls. It is believed to be much too high, for which it can be plead in extenuation, that it was the rough estimate of foreign traders, who were interested in exalting their importance to theUnited States. Certain it is, there are not more than half the numbers, in this region, at present. The number which he assigns to the Sandy Lake band is three hundred and forty-five.The Chippewas of the Upper Mississippi are, in fact, the advanced band of the widespread Algonquin family, who, after spreading along the Atlantic from Virginia, as far as the Gulf of St. Lawrence, have followed up the great chain of lakes, to this region, leaving tribes of more or less variation of language on the way. There may have been a thousand years, or more, expended on this ethnological track, and the names by which they were, at various ages and places, known, are only important as being derivatives from a generic stock of languages whose radicals are readily recognized. Furthest removed, in the line of migration, appear the Mohicans, Lenno Lenawpees, Susquehannocks, and Powatans, and their congeners. The tribes of this continent appear, indeed, to have been impelled in circles, resembling the whirlwinds which have swept over its surface; and, so far as relates to the mental power which set them in motion, the comparison also holds good, for the effects of their migrations appear, everywhere, to have been war and destruction. One age appears to produce no wiser men than another. Having no mode of recording knowledge, experience dies with the generation who felt it, all except the doubtful and imprecise data of tradition; and this is little to be trusted, after a century or two. For the matter of exact history, they might as well trace themselves to the moon, as some of their mythological stories do, as to any other planet, or part of a planet. Of their language, the only certainly reliable thing in their history, a vocabulary is given in the Appendix. To the ear, it appears flowing and agreeable, and not of difficult utterance; and there is abundant reason, on beholding how readily they express themselves, for the plaudits which the early French writers bestowed on the Algonquin language.We observed the custom of these Indians of placing their dead on scaffolds. The corpse is carefully wrapped in bark, and then elevated on a platform made by placing transverse pieces in forks of trees, or on posts, firmly set in the ground. This custom is said to have been borrowed by the Chippewas, of this quarter, from the Dacotahs or Sioux. When they bury in the ground,which is the general custom, a roof of bark is put over the deceased. This inclosure has an aperture cut in it at the head, through which a dish of food is set for the dead. Oblations of liquor are also sometimes made. This ancient custom of offering food and oblations to the dead, reminds the reader of similar customs among some of the barbarous tribes of the oriental world. We noticed also symbolic devices similar to those seen at Huron River or Lake Superior, inscribed on posts set at the head of Indian graves. It seems to be the prime object of these inscriptions to reveal the family name, ortotem, as it is called, of the deceased, together with devices denoting the number of times he has been in battle, and the number of scalps he has taken. As this test of bravery is the prime object of an Indian's life, the greatest efforts are made to attain it.A word may be said as to the climate and soil of this region, and their adaptation to the purposes of agriculture. By the tables of temperature annexed (videAppendix), the mean solar heat, in the shade, during the time of our being in the country, is shown to be 67°. It is evident that it is the idle habits of the Indians, and no adverse circumstances of climate or soil, that prevent their raising crops for their subsistence.Arrangements for a light party to ascend the Mississippi, and seek for its sources, having been made, we left Sandy Lake, in two canoes, at nine o'clock in the morning on the 17th. This party, in addition to his Excellency Gov. Cass, consisted of Dr. Alex. Wolcott, Capt. Douglass, Lieut. Mackay, Maj. Forsyth, and myself, with nineteen voyageurs and Indians, provisioned for twelve days. A voyage of about a mile across the western prolongation of the lake, brought us to its outlet—a wide winding stream, with a very perceptible current, and rich alluvial banks, bearing a forest. After pursuing it some mile and a half, we descended a small rapid, where the average descent of water in a short distance may be perhaps three feet; it appeared, however, to give the men no concern, for they urged their way down it, with full strength of paddle and song, and we soon found ourselves in the Mississippi. The first sight of this stream reminded me of one of its striking characteristics, at far lower points, namely, its rapidity. Its waters are slightly turbid, with a reddish tint. Its width, at this point, as denoted by admeasurementssubsequently made,[68]is three hundred and thirty-one feet. Its banks are alluvial and of a fertile aspect, bearing a forest of oaks, maples, elms, ash, and pines, with a dense undergrowth of shrubbery. I observed a species of polyganum in the water's edge, and wherever we attempted to land it was miry and the borders wet and damp. We were now, from our notes, a hundred and forty-seven miles due west of the head of Lake Superior, by the curved lines of travelling, and probably one hundred in an air line; and had struck the channel of the Mississippi, not less, by the estimates, than two thousand five hundred miles above its mouth on the Gulf of Mexico. It could not, from the very vague accounts we could obtain from the traders, originate, at the utmost, more than three hundred miles higher, and our Canadian voyageurs turned up the stream, with that Troubadour air, orgaite de cour, keeping time with song and paddle, with which New France had at first been traversed by its Champlains, Marquettes, and Frontenacs. To conquer distance and labor, at the same time, with a song, has occurred to no other people, and if these men are not happy, in these voyages, they, at least, have the semblance of it, and are merry. To keep up this flow of spirits, and bravery of capacity in demolishing distances, they always overrate the per diem travel, which, as I have before observed, is put about one-third too high—that is to say, their league is about two miles. On we went, at this rapid rate, stopping every half hour to rest five minutes. During this brief rest, their big kettle of boiled corn and pork was occasionally brought forward, and dipped in, with great fervency of spoon; but, whether eating or working, they were always gay, and most completely relieved from any care of what might happen to-morrow. For the mess kettle was ever most amply supplied, and not according to the scanty pattern which these couriers de bois often encounter in the Indian trade on these summits, when they are sometimes reduced to dine on tripe de Roche and sup on buton de rose; but they bore in mind that their employer, namely, Uncle Sam, was a full-handed man, and they kept up a most commendable mental balance, by at once eating strong and working strong.During the first twenty-seven miles, above the inlet of SandyLake, we passed six small rapids, at distances of three, four, three, one, five, and eleven miles, where the river sinks its level twenty-nine feet, in the estimated aggregate distance of seven hundred yards.[69]Above the latter, extending twenty miles, to the point of our encampment, there is no perceptible rapid. It was eight o'clock when we encamped, having been eleven hours in our canoes, without stretching our legs, and we had ascended forty-six miles.CHAPTER X.Proceed up the Mississippi River—Its velocity and character—Swan River—Trout River, and Mushkoda or Prairie River—Rapids ascended—Reach, and make a portage around Pakagama Falls—Enter a vast lacustrine region—Its character and productions, vegetable and animal—Tortuous channel—Vermilion and Deer Rivers—Leech Lake branch—Lake Winnipek—Ascent of the river to Upper Red Cedar, or Cass Lake—Physical character of the Mississippi River.Our encampment was near the mouth of Swan River, a considerable stream, originating in Swan Lake, near the head of the St. Louis River of Lake Superior.We had been pushing our way, daily, up to our arrival at Sandy Lake; but the word, from leaving that point, was, emphatically, push—and we can hardly be said to have taken proper time to eat or sleep. There was a shower of rain, during the night; it ceased at four o'clock, and we again embarked at five, in a cloudy and misty morning, and it continued cloudy all day. The current of the Mississippi continues to be strong; its velocity, during the ascent of this day, was computed by Capt. Douglass at two and a half miles per hour. We passed a rapid about six miles below Trout River, where there is a computed descent of three feet in a hundred and fifty yards. A few miles before reaching Trout River, we passed through a forest of dead pines, occupying ridges of sand, through which the river has cut its way. Four miles above the entrance of Trout River, we passed the mouth of a considerable stream, called by the Chippewas Mushkoda, or Prairie River, and encamped about five hundred yards above its mouth on a high sandy elevation. It was now eight o'clock P.M. We had ascended the river fifty-one miles, having been fifteen hours in our canoes, and we here first took our breakfast. This severity of fasting was, I think, quite unintentional, the mess-basket being in the other canoe,which kept ahead of us the entire day. We had this day observed specimens of the Unio and some other species of fresh-water shells along the shore. And of birds, besides the duck, plover, and loon, which frequent the water, we noticed the thrush, robin, blackbird, and crow. The comparative coolness of the day rendered the annoyance from mosquitos less severe than we had found them the preceding day. The night on this sandy and bleak elevation proved cool, with a heavy dew, which resulted in a dense fog in the morning. We found ice on the bottoms of the canoes, which are turned up at night, of the thickness of a knife-blade.Our third day's ascent witnessed no diminution of the strength and alacrity with which our canoemen urged our way up the stream. We were off betimes, in a lowering and dense atmosphere, which obscured objects. After advancing some six miles, there are a series of small rapids, which are, taken together, called Ka-ka-bi-ka,[70]where I estimated the river to sink its level sixteen feet, in a short distance; at none of these is the navigation, however, impeded. The rock stratification appears too compact for sand-rock, and is obscured by contiguous boulders, which are indicative of the strong drift-formation, which has spread from the north and east over this region. Four miles after ascending the last of the Kakabika Rapids, we landed at the foot of the Pakagama Falls. Here the lading was immediately put ashore, the canoes landed, and the whole carried over an Indian portage path of two hundred and seventy-five yards. This delay afforded an opportunity to view the falls. The Mississippi, at this point, forces its way through a formation of quartzy rock, during which it sinks its level, as estimated, twenty feet, in a distance of about three hundred yards. There is no perceptible cascade or abrupt fall, but the river rushes with the utmost velocity down a highly inclined rocky bed towards the northeast. It forms a complete interruption to navigation, and must, hereafter, be the terminus of the navigation of that class of small steamboats which may be introduced above the Falls of St. Anthony. The general elevation of the geological stratum at the top of this fall must bebut little under fourteen hundred feet above the Gulf of Mexico.[71]This summit bears a growth of the yellow pine. I observed, amongst the shrubs, the vaccinium dumosum. Immediately above the falls is a small rocky island, bearing a growth of spruce and cedars, being the first island noticed above Sandy Lake. This island parts the channel into two, at the precise point of its precipitation. On coming to the head of these falls, we appear to have reached a vast geological plateau, consisting of horizontal deposits of clay and drift on the nucleus of granitical and metamorphic rocks, which underlie the sources of the Mississippi River. The vast and irregular bodies of water called Leech Lake, Winnipek, and Cass Lakes, together with a thousand lesser lakes of a mile or two in circumference, lie on this great diluvial summit. These lakes spread east and west over a surface of not less than two hundred miles; most of them are connected with channels of communication forming a tortuous and intricate system of waters, only well known to the Indians; and there seems the less wonder that the absolute and most remote source of the Mississippi has so long remained a matter of doubt.By the time we had well seen the falls, and made some sketches and notes, the indefatigable canoemen announced our baggage all carried over the portage, and the canoes put into the water. Embarking, at this point, we found the river had lost its velocity; it was often difficult to determine that it had any current at all. We wound about, by a most tortuous channel, through savannas where coarse species of grass, flags, reeds, and wild rice struggled for the mastery. The whole country appeared to be one flat surface, where the sameness of the objects, the heat of the weather, and the excessively serpentine channel of the river, conspired to render the way tedious. The banks of the river were but just elevated above these illimitable fields of grass and aquatic plants. In these banks the gulls had their nests, and as they were disturbed they uttered deafening screams. Water-fowl were intruded upon at every turn, the blackbird and rail chattered over their clusters of reeds and cat-tails; the falcon screamed on high, as he quietly sailed above our heads, and the whole feathered creation appeared to be decidedly intruded on by our unwonted advanceinto the great watery plateau, to say nothing of the small and unimportant class of reptiles who inhabit the region.Forty miles above the falls, the River Vermilion flows in through these savannas on the left hand; and three miles higher the Deer River is tributary on the right hand. We ascended six miles above the latter, and encamped in a dry prairie, on the same side, at a late hour. The men reported themselves to have travelled sixteen leagues, notwithstanding their detention on the Pakagama Portage. How far we had advanced, in a direct line, is very questionable. At one spot, we estimated ourselves to have passed, by the river's involutions, nine miles, but to have advanced directly but one mile. I noticed, on the meadow at this spot, a small and very delicious species of raspberry, the plant not rising higher than three or four inches. This species, of which I preserved both the roots and fruit, I referred to Dr. J. Torrey, of New York, who pronounced it the Rebus Nutkanus of Moçino—a species found by this observer in the Oregon regions. It is now known to occur eastwardly, to upper Michigan. As night approached on these elevated prairies, we observed for the first time the fire-fly.The next morning (20th) we were again in motion at half-past five o'clock. It had rained during the night, and the morning was cloudy, with a dense fog. At the distance of ten miles, we passed the Leech Lake River. This is a very considerable river, bringing in, apparently, one-third as much water as the main branch. It is, however, but fifty miles in length, and is merely the outlet of the large lake bearing that name. It was thought the current of the Mississippi denoted greater velocity above this point, while the water exhibited greater clearness. We had still the same savanna regions, with a serpentine channel to encounter. Through this the men urged their way for a distance of thirty-five miles, when Winnipek Lake displayed itself before us. The waters of this lake have a whitish, slightly turbid aspect, after the prevalence of storms, which appears to reveal its shallowness, with a probably whitish clay bottom. The Chippewa name of Winnebeegogish[72]is, indeed, derivative from this circumstance. This lake is stated to be ten miles in its greatest length. We crossed it transversely in order to strike the inlet of the Mississippi, and encamped on the other side. In this transit we met a couple of Indian women in a canoe, who, being interrogated by the interpreter, stated that they came to observe whether the wild rice, which is quite an item of the Indian subsistence in this quarter, was matured enough to be tied into clusters for beating out. We estimated our advance this day, by the time denoted by the chronometer, at fifty-one miles.We were again in our canoes the next morning at half-past four o'clock. In coasting along the north shores of Winnipek Lake, an object of limy whiteness attracted our attention, which turned out to be a small island composed of granitical and other boulders, which had served as the resting-place of birds, for which the region above the Pakagama Falls is so remarkable. On landing, a dead pelican was stretched on the surface. We had not before observed this species on the river, and named the island Shayta, from its Chippewa name. The buzzard, cormorant, brant, eagle, and raven had hitherto constituted the largest species. Along the shores of the river, the king-fisher and heron had been frequent objects. With respect to the cormorant, it was observed that the Indians classify it with the species of duck, their name for it, ka-ga-ge-sheeb, signifying, literally, crow-duck.On again reaching the inlet of the Mississippi, its size and appearance corresponded so exactly to its character below the Winnipek, that it had evidently experienced but little or no change by passing through this lake. The same width and volume were observed which it had below this point; the same moderate velocity; the same borders of grassy savanna, and the same tendency to redouble its length, by its contortions, appeared. In some places, however, it approaches those extensive ridges of sandy formation, bearing pines, which traverse, or rather bound, these wide savannas. Through these channels the canoemen urged their course with their usual alacrity—now stopping a few moments to breathe, and then, striking their paddles again in the water with renewed vigor, and often starting off with one of their animated canoe-songs. From about eight o'clock in the morning till two in the afternoon we proceeded up the winding thread of this channel, when the appearance of a large body of water in the distance before us attracted attention. It was the first glimpsewe had of the upper Red Cedar Lake. The Mississippi River here deploys itself in one of those large sheets of pellucid water which are so characteristic of its sources. On reaching the estuary at its entrance, a short halt was made. A large body of the most transparent water spread out before us. Its outlines, towards the south, were only bounded by the line of the horizon. In the distance appeared the traces of wooded islands. If Sandy Lake had, on emerging from the wilderness, impressed us with its rural beauty, this far transcended it in the variety and extent of outlines, and that oceanic amplitude of freshness, which so often inspires admiration in beholding the interior American lakes. It was determined to cross a part of the lake towards the north-east, in order to strike the site of an ancient Indian village at the mouth of Turtle River; and under the influences of a serene day, and one of their liveliest chants, the men pushed for that point, which was reached at three o'clock in the afternoon of the 21st July. The spot at which we landed was the verge of a green lawn, rising in a short distance to a handsome eminence, crowned with oaks and maples. One or two small log tenements stood on this slope occupied by two Canadians in the service of the American Fur Company. Several wigwams of bark and poles lifted their fragile conical forms on either side.In one of these tenements, consisting of a small cabin of poles, sheathed with bark, we found an object of human misery which excited our sympathies. It was in the person of one of the Canadians, to whom reference has been made, of the name of Montruille. He had, in the often severe peregrinations of the fur trade in this quarter, been caught in a snow-storm during the last winter, and frozen both his feet in so severe a manner that they eventually sloughed off, and he could no longer stand upright or walk. He lay on the ground in a most pitiable state of dejection, with the stumps of his legs bound up with deer skins, with a gray, long-neglected beard, and an aspect of extreme despair. English he could not speak; and the French he uttered was but an abuse of the noble gift of language to call down denunciations on those who had deserted him, or left him thus to his fate. A rush mat lay under him. He had no covering. He was emaciated to the last degree, every bone in his body seemed visible through the skin. His cheeks were fallen in, and his eyes sunk in their sockets, butdarting a look of despair. His Indian wife had deserted him. Food, of an inadequate quality, was occasionally thrown in to him. Such were the accounts we received. Governor Cass directed groceries, ammunition, and presents of clothing to be made to him, to the latter of which, every member of the party added. He also engaged a person to convey him to Sandy Lake.
Fig. 1
The rock consists of a mass of native copper in a tabular boulder of serpentine. Its face is almost purely metallic, and more splendent than appears to consist with its being purely metallic copper. There is no appearance of oxidation. Its size, roughly measured, is three feet four inches, by three feet eight inches, and about twelve or fourteen inches thick in the thickest part. The weight of copper, exclusive of the rock, is not readily estimated; it may be a ton, or a ton and a half. Old authors report it at more than double this weight. The quantity has been, however, much diminished by visitors, who have cut freely from it. I obtained adequate specimens, but found my chisels too highly tempered, and my hammer not heavy enough to separate large masses. Having made the necessary examinations, we took our way back up the elevated banks of the river, and across the forest about six miles, to the final place of debarkation of Gov. Cass and his party. But our fears were at once excited on learning that the Governor, with his guide, Wabishkepenais, had not reached the camp. It was already beginning to be dark, and the gloom of night, which is impressive in these solitudes, was fast closing around us. Guns were fired, to denote our position, and a light canoe was immediately manned, placed in charge of one of the gentlemen, and sent up the river in search. This canoe had not proceeded a mile, when the object of search was descried, with his companions, sitting on the banks of the river, with a real jaded air, with his Indian guide standing at no great distance. Wabishkepenais had been bewildered in his tracks, andfinally struck the river by the merest chance. The Governor, on reaching camp, looked as if he had been carried over steeps and through gloomy defiles, which had completely exhausted his strength, and he was not long in retiring to his tent, willing to leave such rough explorations for the present, at least, to other persons, or, if he ever resumed them, to do it with better guides. Poor Wabishkepenais looked chagrined and as woebegone himself as if he had encountered the bad influences of half the spirits of his Indian mythology; for the fellow had really been lost in his own woods, and with a charge by whom he had felt honored, and employed his best skill to conduct. The camp-fires already threw their red glare among the trees as night spread her sable pall over us. The tents were pitched; the canoes turned up on the shore to serve as a canopy for the men to sleep under. Indians and Canadians were soon engaged at their favorite pipes, and mingled their tones and hilarious conversation; and we finally all slept the sounder for our eventful day's toils and misadventures. But deeply printed on our memory, and long to remain there, are the thrilling scenes of that day and that night.
At five o'clock the next morning, the entire camp was roused and in motion, when we began to descend the stream. We had descended about ten miles, when the Ontonagon Indians stopped the canoes to examine a bear-fall, on the east bank. It was a fine open forest, elevated some six or eight feet above the water. It was soon announced that a bear was entrapped. We all ascended the bank, and visited the locality. The structure had been so planned that the animal must needs creep lowly under a crib of logs to get at the bait, which he no sooner disturbed than a weight of logs fell on his prostrated legs. The animal sat up partially on his fore paws, when we advanced, the hinder being pressed heavily to the earth. One of the Indians soon fired a ball through his head, but it did not kill him, he still kept his upright position. Dr. Wolcott then requested permission to fire a shot, which was aimed at the heart, and took effect about that part, but did not kill him. One of the Indians then dispatched him with an axe. He was no sooner dead than one of the Indians, stepping up, addressed him by the nameMuk-wah, shook him by the paw, with a smiling countenance, saying, in the Indian language, that he was sorry they had been under the necessity ofkilling him, and hoped the offence would be forgiven, as one of the shots fired had been from an American.[52]
This act of the Indian addressing the bear, will be better understood, when it is stated that their mythology tells them, that the spirit of the animal must be encountered in a future state, when the enchantment to which it is condemned in this life, will be taken off.
On passing down the river, an Indian had promised to disclose another mass of native copper, near the river, and we stopped at a spot indicated, to enable him to bring it. Whether he repented of his too free offer, agreeably to Indian superstition, or feared some calamity to follow the disclosure, or really encountered some difficulty in finding it, I know not, but it is certain that, after some time spent in the search, or affected search, he came back to the river without producing it.
Soon after this incident, we reached the mouth of the river, and found the party left encamped at that point, in charge of Mr. Trowbridge and Mr. Doty, well, nothing having occurred in our absence. The wind was, however, adverse to our embarkation, had it been immediately desired.
A council of the Ontonagon Indians was summoned, which met in the after part of the day; speeches were delivered, and replied to, and presents distributed. A silver medal was presented to Wabishkepenais.
Head winds continuing, we were farther detained at this spot the following day. While thus detained, an Ontonagon Indian brought in a mass of native copper, from the banks of this river, weighing eight or nine pounds. This mass was of a flattened, orbicular shape, and its surface coated with a green oxide. At a subsequent part of my acquaintance with this river, another mass of native copper (still deposited in my cabinet) was brought to me, from the east fork of the river, which weighed from forty to fifty pounds. This mass, of a columnar shape, originally embraced a piece of stone which the Indian finding it had detached. It was also coated with a dark green oxide of copper. Both of these masses appeared to have been volcanic. Neither of them hadthe slightest traces of gangue, or vein-matter, nor of attrition in being removed from the parent beds. The following sketches depict the shapes of these masses.
Fig. 2 and Fig. 3
With respect to the general question of the mineral character of this part of the country, and the probable value of its mineral and metallic deposits to the public domain, the entire class of facts, from which a judgment must be formed, are favorable.[53]Salts and oxides of copper are not only seen in various places in its stratification, but these indications of mineral wealth in this article are confirmed, by the subsequent discovery of masses of native copper, along the shore, and imbedded in its traps and amygdaloids. In addition to the opportunities of observation furnished by this expedition, subsequent public duties led me to perform seven separate trips along its shores, and each of these but served to accumulate the evidences of its extraordinary mineral wealth. Indications of the sulphurets, arseniates, and other ores of this metal are found in the older class of horizontal rocks; but it is to the trap-rocks alone that we must look for the veins of native metal. Some of these masses contain silver, in a state of combination. Traces of this metal, chiefly in the boulder form, are found in the metalliferous horizontal strata. Nor is there wanting evidence, that there are localities of virgincopper, which do not promise a considerable percentage of the metal. A mass of steatite, imbedding a heavy mass of pure native silver, which had been probably carried from the northwest, with the drift stratum, was found cast out quite into the Huron basin; and this rock, in its intimate associations with the serpentine formation of Lake Superior, should be closely scrutinized. There is also a formation of slate and quartz in the primitive district, which is entitled to particular attention.
Inorganic masses are developed, throughout the globe, without regard to climate. Russia yields the precious metals in great profusion, and there are no laws governing the distribution of these metals, which forbid the expectation that they should be abundantly disclosed by the stratification of the basin of Lake Superior. With respect to the useful metals, particularly copper and iron, it is undeniably the richest and most extensive locality of these metals on the globe.[54]
Proceed along the southern coast of Lake Superior from the Ontonagon, to Fond du Lac—Porcupine range of mountains—Streams that run from it, at parallel distances, into the lake—La Pointe—Group of the Federation Islands—River St. Louis—Physical geography of Lake Superior.
Head winds detained the expedition at the mouth of the Ontonagon, during the day and the day following that of our arrival from the copper rock. It was the first of July, at half-past four o'clock, A. M., when the state of the lake permitted us to embark. Steering west, we now had the prominent object of the Porcupine Mountains constantly in view. At the distance of fifteen miles, we passed the Pewabik Seebe, or Iron River. This stream, after ascending it a couple of miles, is a mere torrent, pouring from the Porcupine Mountains, over a very rough bed of grauwakke, which forbids all navigation. At the computed distance of five leagues beyond this stream, we passed the river called Pusábika, or Dented River, so called from standing rocks, which resemble broken human teeth. The Canadians, who, as previously remarked, appear to have had but a limited geographical vocabulary, called this Carp River, neglectful of the fact that they had already bestowed the name on a small river which flows into the bay south of Granite Point.[55]We were now at the foot of the Kaug range, which is one vast upheaval of trap-rock, and has lifted the chocolate-colored sandstone, at its base, into a vertical position. The Pusábika River originates in this high trap range, from which it is precipitated, at successive leaps, to the level of the lake, the nearest of which, a cascade of forty feet, is within three miles of the river's mouth.
Six miles further brought us to the Presque Isle River of the Canadians, for which I heard no Indian name. It also originates on this lofty trap range, and has worn its bed through frightful chasms in the grauwackke, through which it enters the lake. Within half a mile of its entrance, the river, hastening from its elevations, drops into a vast cauldron scooped in the grauwackke rock, whence it glides into the lake. Here are some picturesque and sublime views, worthy the pencil.
Two leagues beyond this river we reached and passed the entrance of Black River, another of the streams from the Kaug range. It is stated to be rapid, and to have its source south of the mountains, in a district sheltered from the lake winds, and suited to agriculture. Its borders bear at the same time indications of mineral wealth. Eight miles beyond this river, we encamped on the open shores of the lake, after travelling fifty miles. Having been doubled up in the canoe for all this distance, landing on terra firma, and being able to stretch one's legs, seemed quite a relief. "I will break a lance with you," quoth A to B, addressing Mr. Trowbridge, offering him at the same time a dried stalk, which had been cast up by the waves. We were, in fact, as much pleased to get ashore, after the day's confinement, as so many boys let loose from confinement in school. In strolling along the shore, I recognized the erismatolite, in the dark upheaved sandstone at this locality.
We here observed a phenomenon, which is alluded to by Charlevoix as peculiar to this lake. Although it was calm, and had been so all day, save a light breeze for a couple of hours after leaving the Ontonagon, the waters near shore were in a perfect rage, heaving and lashing upon the rocks, in a manner which rendered it difficult to land. At the same time, scarce a breath of air was stirring, and the atmosphere was beautifully serene.
On passing thirteen miles, the next morning, we reached the mouth of the Montreal River, which is the last of the mountain streams of the Kaug range. It throws itself from a high precipice of the vertical sand-rock, within sight of the lake, creating quite a picturesque view.[56](VideInformation respecting the History, Customs, and Prospects of Indian Tribes, vol. iv. plate 26.)
On landing here a few moments, at an early hour, the air beinghazy, we knocked down some pigeons, which flew very low.[57]This bird seems to be precisely the common pigeon of the Atlantic borders. The Indians had constructed a fish-weir between the lake and Montreal falls, where the lake sturgeon are caught.
After passing about a league beyond the Montreal, the voyager reaches a curve in the lake shore, at which it bends to the north and northwest. This curve is observed to extend to the De Tour of the great bay of Fond du Lac, a computed distance of thevoyageursof thirty-six miles, which, as before indicated, is about one-third overrated. The immediate shore is a level plain of sand, which continues to Point Chegoimegon, say eighteen miles. About two-thirds of this distance, the Muskeego[58]River enters through the sandy plain from the west. This is a large stream, consisting of two primary forks, one of which connects it with Chippewa River, and the other with the River St. Croix of the Mississippi. The difficulties attending its ascent, from rapids and portages, have led the French to call it Mauvaise, or Bad River.[59]Passing this river, we continued along the sandy formation to its extreme termination, which separates the Bay of St. Charles by a strait from that remarkable group of islands, called the Twelve Apostles by Carwer. It is this sandy point, which is called La Pointe Chagoimegon[60]by the old French authors, a term now shortened to La Pointe. Instead of "twelve," there are, however, nearer thirty islands, agreeably to the subjoined sketch, by which it is seen that each State in the Union may stand sponsor for one of them, and they might be more appropriately called theFederation Group. Touching at the inner or largest of the group, we found it occupied by a Chippewa village, under a chief called Bezhike. There was a tenement occupied by a Mr. M. Cadotte, who has allied himself to the Chippewas. Hence we proceeded about eleven miles to the main shore, where we encamped at a rather late hour. I here found a recurrence of the granitic, sienitic, and hornblende rocks, in high orbicular hills, and improved the brief time of daylight to explore the vicinity. The evening proved lowering and dark, and this eventuated in rain, which continued all night, and until six o'clock the next morning. Embarking at this hour, we proceeded northwest about eight miles, to Raspberry River, and southwest to Sandy River. Here we were driven ashore by a threatening tempest, and before we had unladen the canoes, there fell one of the most copious and heavy showers of rain. The water seemed fairly to pour from the clouds. We had not pitched a tent, nor could the slightest shelter be found. There seemed but one option at our command, namely, that between sitting and standing. We chose the latter, and looked at each other, it may be, foolishly, while this rain tempest poured. When it was over, we were as completely wetted as if it had been our doom to lay at the bottom of the lake. When the rain ceased, the wind rose directly ahead, which confined us to that spot the rest of the day. The next day was the Fourth of July—a day consecrated in our remembrance, but which we could do no more than remember. The wind continued to blow adversely till about two o'clock, when we embarked, not without feeling the lake still laboring under the agitation into which it had been thrown. On travelling three miles, we turned the prominent point, called De Tour of Fond du Lac. At this point our course changed from northwest to south-southwest.
The sandstone formation here showed itself for the last time. The shore soon assumes a diluvial character, bordered with long lines of yellow sand and pebbles. In some places, heavy beds of pure iron sand were observed. The agitation which marked the lake soon subsided, under the change of wind, and our men seemed determined, by the diligence with which they worked, to make amends for our delay at Sandy River.
At eight o'clock in the evening we came to Cranberry River and encamped, having, by their estimation, come twenty-three miles. The evening was perfectly clear and calm, with a striking twilight, which was remarked all night. These lengthened twilights form a very observable feature as we proceed north. Mackenzie says that, in lat. 67° 47´, on the 11th of July, 1789, he saw the sun above the horizon at twelve o'clock P.M.
The calmness and beauty of the night, and our chief's anxiety to press forward, made this a short night. Gen. Cass aroused the camp at a very early hour, so that at three o'clock we were again upon the lake, urging our way up the Fond du Lac Bay. The sun rose above the horizon at ten minutes before four o'clock. The morning was clear and brilliant. Not a cloud obscured the sky, and the waves of the lake spread out with the brightness of a mirror. At the distance of five leagues, we passed the mouth of the Wisakoda, or Broule River,[61]a stream which forms the connecting link with the Mississippi River, through the St. Croix. Three miles beyond this point we landed a short time, on the shore, where we observed a stratum of iron sand, pure and black, a foot in thickness.
At eleven o'clock, a northeast wind arose, which enabled the expedition to hoist sail. Land on the north shore had for some time been in sight, across the bay, and the line of coast soon closed in front, denoting that we had reached the head of the lake. At twelve o'clock, we entered the month of the River St. Louis, having been eighteen days in passing this lake, including the trip to the Ontonagon.
Before quitting Lake Superior, whose entire length we have now traversed, one or two generic remarks may be made; and the first respects its aboriginal name. The Algonquins, who, in the Chippewa tribe, were found in possession of it, on the arrival of the French, early in the seventeenth century, applied the same radical word to it which they bestow on the sea, namely, Gum-ee (Collected water), or, as it is sometimes pronounced, Gom-ee, or Go-ma; with this difference, that the adjective big (gitchè) prefixed to this term for Lake Superior, is repeated when it is applied to the sea. The superlative is formed when it is meant to be very emphatic, in this language, by the repetition of the adjective; a principle, indeed, quite common to the Indian grammars generally. The word did not commend itself to French or English ears, so much as to lead to its adoption. By taking the syllable Al from Algonquin, as a prefix, instead of gitchè, we have the more poetic combination of Algoma.
Geographers have estimated the depth of this lake at nine hundred feet. By the surveys of the engineers of the New York and Erie Canal, the surface of Lake Erie is shown to be five hundred and sixty feet above tide-water, which, agreeably to estimates kept on the present journey, lies fifty-two feet below the level of Lake Superior. These data would carry the bottom of the lake two hundred and eighty-eight feet below tide water. What is more certain is this, that it has been the theatre of ancient volcanic action, which has thrown its trap-rocks into high precipices around its northern shores and some of its islands, and lifted up vast ranges of sandstone rocks into a vertical position, as is seen at the base of the Porcupine Mountains. Its latest action appears to have been in its western portion, as is proved by the upheaval of the horizontal strata; and it may be inferred that its bed is very rough and unequal.
The western termination of the lake, in the great bay of Fond du Lac, denotes a double or masked shore, which appears to havebeen formed of pebbles and sands, driven up by the tempests, at the distance of a mile or two, outside of the original shore. The result is shown by an elongated piece of water, resembling a lake, which receives at the north, the River St. Louis, and theAgoche, or Lefthand River, at its south extremity.
About three miles above the mouth of the river, we landed at a Chippewa village. While exchanging the usual salutations with them, we noticed the children of an African, who had intermarried with this tribe. These children were the third in descent from Bongo, a freed man of a former British commanding officer at the Island of Michilimackinac. They possessed as black skins as the father, a fact which may be accounted for by observing, what I afterwards learned, that the marriages were, in the case of the grandfather and father, with the pure Indian, and not with Africano-Algonquin blood; so that there had been no direct advance in the genealogical line.
The St. Louis River discharges a large volume of water, and is destined hereafter to be a port of entry for the lake shipping, but at present it has shoals of sand at its mouth which would bar the entrance of large vessels. Proceeding up the river, we found it very serpentine, and abounding in aquatic plants, portions of it yielding the wild rice. At the computed distance of twenty-four miles, we reached the establishment of the American Fur Company. It was seven o'clock when we came to the place, where we encamped.
Lake Superior is called by the Chippewas a sea.
The superficial area of the lake has been computed by Mr. Darby at a little under nine hundred billions of feet, and its depth at nine hundred feet. By the latest surveys and estimate, the altitude of Lake Superior above tide water, is about six hundred and forty feet.[62]Allowing Mr. Darby's computation to be correct, this would sink its bed far below the surface of the Atlantic.
This lake has been the theatre of very extensive volcanic action. Vast dykes of trap traverse its northern shores. One of the principal of these has apparently extended across its bed, from northeast to southwest, to the long peninsula of Keweena, producing at the same time, the elevated range of the OkaugMountains. One of the most remarkable features of these dykes is the numerous and extensive veins of native copper which characterize them. Subsequent convulsions, and the demolition of these ancient dykes, by storms and tempests, have scattered along its shores abundant evidence of the metal and its ores and veinstones, which have attracted notice from the earliest time. The geology of its southern coasts may be glanced at, and inferred, from the subjoined outlines.
Geological outline of Lake Superior.
The teachings of topography, applied to commerce, are wonderful. A longitudinal line, dropped south, from this point, would cross the Mississippi at the foot of Lake Pepin, and pass through Jefferson city on the Missouri. When, therefore, a ship canal shall be made at St. Mary's Falls, vessels of large tonnage may sail from Oswego (by the Welland canal) and Buffalo, through a line of inter-oceanic seas, nearer to the foot of the Rocky Mountains, by several hundred miles, than by any other possible route. A railroad line from Fond du Lac west to the Columbia valley, would also form the shortest and most direct transit route from the Pacific to New York. Such a road would have the advantage of passing through a region favorable to agriculture, which cannot but develop abundant resources.
Proceed up the St. Louis River, and around its falls and rapids to Sandy Lake in the valley of the Upper Mississippi—Grand Portage—Portage aux Coteaux—A sub-exploring party—Cross the great morass of Akeek Scepi to Sandy Lake—Indian mode of pictographic writing—Site of an Indian jonglery—Post of Sandy Lake.
We had now reached above nine hundred and fifty miles from our starting-point at Detroit, and had been more than forty days in traversing the shores of Lakes Huron and Superior. July had already commenced, and no time was to be lost in reaching our extreme point of destination. Every exertion was therefore made to push ahead. By ten o'clock of the morning after our arrival at the Fond du Lac post, we embarked, and after going two miles reached the foot of the first rapids of the St. Louis. This spot is called the commencement of the Grand Portage—over this path all the goods, provisions, and canoes are to be carried by hand nine miles. During this distance, the St. Louis River, a stream of prime magnitude, bursts through the high trap range of what Bouchette calls the Cabotian Mountains, being a continuation of the upheavals of the north shore of Lake Superior, the river leaping and foaming, from crag to crag, in a manner which creates some of the most grand and picturesque views. We sometimes stood gazing at their precipices and falls, with admiration, and often heard their roar on our path, when we were miles away from them. Capt. Douglass estimated the river to fall one hundred and eight feet during the first nine miles; and from estimates furnished me by Dr. Wolcott, the aggregate fall from the mouth of the Savannè, to that point, is two hundred and twelve feet. We found the first part of the ascent of its banks very precipitous and difficult, particularly for the men who bore burdens, and what rendered the labor almost insupportable wasthe heat, which stood at 82°, in the shade, at noon. We made but fivepausesthe first day; and were three days on the portage. It rained the second day, which added much to the difficulty of our progress. We now found ourselves, at every step, advancing into a wild and rugged region. Everything around us wore the aspect of remoteness. Dark forests, swampy grounds, rocky precipices, and the distant roaring of the river, as it leapt from rock to rock, would have sufficiently impressed the mind with the presence of the wilderness, without heavy rains, miry paths, and the train of wild and picturesque Indians, who constituted a part of our carriers.
The rocks, at the foot of the portage, consisted of horizontal red sandstone. On reaching the head of it, we found argillite in a vertical position. I found the latter, in some places, pervaded by thin veins of quartz, and in one instance by grauwackke. At one spot there was a small vein of coarse graphite in the argillite. Large blocks of black crystallized hornblende rock lie along the shores, where we again reached the river, and are often seen on its bed, amid the swift-running water, but I did not observe this rock in place. Among the loose stones at the foot of the portage, I picked up a specimen of micaceous oxide of iron. Such are the gleams of its geology and mineralogy. The growth of the forest is pines, hemlock, spruce, birch, oak, and maple. In favorable situations, I observed the common red raspberry, ripe.
On embarking above the portage, the expedition occupied seven canoes, of a size most suitable for this species of navigation. Our Indian auxiliaries from Fond du Lac were here rewarded, and dismissed. On ascending six miles, we reached the Portage aux Coteaux, so called from the carrying path lying over a surface of vertical argillite. This rock, standing up in the bed, or on the banks of the stream, with a scanty overhanging foliage of cedar, gives a peculiarly wild and abrupt aspect to the scene; which is by no means lessened by the loud roaring of the waters. There is a fall and rapid at this portage, where the river, it may be estimated, sinks its level about fourteen feet.
We encamped at the head of this portage, where the water again permits the canoes to be put in. Thus far, we had found this stream a broad, flowing torrent, but owing to its rapids and rocks, anything but favorable to its navigation by boats, or canoesof heavy burden. His excellency Gov. Cass, therefore, determined to relieve the river party, by detaching a sub-expedition across the country to Sandy Lake. It was thought proper that I should accompany this party. It consisted, besides, of Lieut. Mackay, with eight soldiers, and of Mr. Doty, Mr. Trowbridge, and Mr. Chase. We were provided with an interpreter and two Chippewa guides, being sixteen persons in all.
Thus organized, we left the camp at the head of the portage, the following morning, at six o'clock. Each one carried provisions for five days, a knife, a musquito bar, and a blanket or cloak. There were a few guns taken, but generally this was thought to be an incumbrance, as we expected to see little game and to encounter a toilsome tramp. The guides, taking their course by the sun, struck west into a close forest of pine, hemlock, and underbrush, which required energy to push through. On travelling a couple of miles, we fell into an Indian path leading in the required direction; but this path, after passing through two ponds, and some marshes, eventually lost itself in swamps. These marshes, after following through them, about four miles, were succeeded by an elevated dry sandy barren, with occasional clumps of pitch pine, and with a surface of shrubbery. Walking over this dry tract was quite a relief. We then entered a thick forest of young spruce and hemlock. Two miles of this brought us to the banks of a small lake, with clear water, and a pebbly shore. Having no canoe to cross it, our guides led us around its southern shores. The fallen timber and brush rendered this a very difficult march. To avoid these obstructions, as they approached the head of the lake, we eventually took its margin, occasionally leading into the water. While passing these shores, I picked up some specimens of the water-worn agates, for which the diluvians in this quarter are remarkable. We now fell into an old Indian path, which led to two small lakes, similar in size, to the former one, but with marshy borders, and reddish water. These small lakes were filled with pond lilies, rushes, and wild rice. At the margin of the second lake, the path ceased, and the guides could not afterwards find it. The path terminated abruptly at the second lake. While searching about this, Chamees,[63]one of the Indian guides, found a large green tortoise, which he and his companion killed in a very ingenious and effectual way, by a blow from a hatchet on the neck, at the point where the shell or buckler terminates. After leaving this water, they appeared to be in doubt about the way; almost imperceptibly, we found ourselves in a great tamarak swamp. The bogs and moss served to cover up, almost completely, the fallen trees, and formed so elastic a carpet as to sink deep at every tread. Occasionally they broke through, letting the foot into the mire. This proved a very fatiguing tramp. To add to its toils, it rained at intervals all day. We were eleven hours in passing this swamp, and estimated, and probably over-estimated ourselves to have past twenty miles. We encamped at five o'clock near the shores of a third small lake, each one picking out for himself the most elevated spot possible, and the person who got a position most completely out of the water was the best man. It is fatigue, however, that makes sleep a welcome guest, and we awoke without any cause of complaint on that score.
The next morning, as we were about to depart, we observed near the camp-fire of our guides a pole leaning in the direction we were to go, with a birch-bark inscription inserted in a slit in the top of the pole. This was too curious an object not to excite marked attention, and we took it down to examine the hieroglyphics, or symbols, which had been inscribed with charcoal on the birch scroll. We found the party minutely depicted by symbols. The figures of eight muskets denoted that there were eight soldiers in the party. The usual figure for a man, namely, a closed cross with a head, thus:—
and one hand holding a sword, told the tale that they were commanded by an officer. Mr. Doty was drawn with a book, they having understood that he was a lawyer. I was depicted with a hammer, to denote a mineralogist. Mr. Trowbridge and Mr. Chase, and the interpreter, were also depicted. Chamees and his companion were drawn by a camp-fire apart, and the figure ofthe tortoise and a prairie-hen denoted the day's hunt. There were three hacks on the pole, which leaned to the N. W., denoting our course of travel. Having examined this unique memorial, it was carefully replaced in its former position, when we again set forward. It appeared we had rested in a sort of oasis in the swamp, for we soon entered into a section of a decidedly worse character than that we had passed the day before. The windfalls and decaying timber were more frequent—the bogs, if possible, more elastic—the spots dry enough to halt on, more infrequent, and the water more highly colored with infusions of decaying vegetable matter. We urged our way across this tract of morass for nine hours, during which we estimated our progress at fourteen miles, and encamped about four o'clock P. M., in a complete state of exhaustion. Even our Indian guides demanded a halt; and what had, indeed, added to our discouragements, was the uncertainty of their way, which they had manifested.
Our second night's repose in this swampy tract, was on ground just elevated above the water; the mosquitos were so pertinacious at this spot as to leave us but little rest. From information given by our guides, this wide tract of morass constitutes the sources of the Akeek Seebi, or Kettle River, which is one of the remotest sources of the Mille Lac, and, through that body of water, of Rum River. It is visited only by the Indians, at the proper season for trapping the beaver, marten, and muskrat. During our transit through it, we came to open spaces where the cranberry was abundant. In the same locality, we found the ripe fruit, green berries, and blossoms of this fruit.
It was five o'clock A. M. when we resumed our march through this toilsome tract, and we passed out of it, after pressing forward with our best might, during twelve hours. We had been observant of the perplexity of our guides, who had unwittingly, we thought, plunged us into this dreary and seemingly endless morass, and were rejoiced, on a sudden, to hear them raise loud shouts. They had reached a part of the country known to them, and took this mode to express their joy, and we soon found ourselves on the banks of a small clear stream, called by them Bezhiki Seebi, or Buffalo Creek, a tributary to Sandy Lake. We had, at length, reached waters flowing into the Mississippi. On this stream we prepared to encamp, in high spirits, feeling, asthose are apt to who have long labored at an object, a pleasure in some measure proportioned to the exertions made.
Any other people but the Indians would feel ill at ease in dreary regions like these. But these sons of the forest appear to carry all their socialities with them, even in the most forbidding solitudes. They are so familiarized with the notions of demons and spirits, that the wildest solitude is replete with objects of hope and fear. We had evidence of this, just before we encamped on the banks of the Bezhiki, when we came to a cleared spot, which had been occupied by what the Canadians, with much force, call ajonglery, or place of necromantic ceremonies of their priests or jossakeeds. There were left standing of this structure six or eight smooth posts of equal length, standing perpendicularly. These had been carefully peeled, and painted with a species of ochrey clay. The curtains of bark, extending between them, and isolating the powow, or operator, had been removed; but the precincts had the appearance of having been carefully cleared of brush, and the ground levelled, for the purposes of these sacred orgies, which exercise so much influence on Indian society.
We were awaked in our encampment, between four and five o'clock, the next morning, by a shower of rain. Jumping up, and taking our customary meal of jerked beef and biscuit, we now followed our guides, with alacrity, over a dry and uneven surface, towards Sandy Lake. We had now been three days in accomplishing the traverse over this broad and elevated, yet sphagnous summit, separating the valley of the St. Louis of Lake Superior from that of the Upper Mississippi. As we approached the basin of Sandy Lake, we passed over several sandy ridges, bearing the white and yellow pine; the surface and its depressions bearing the wild cherry, poplar, hazel, ledum latifolia, and other usual growth and shrubs of the latitude. On the dry sandy tracts the uva ursi, or kinnikinnik of the Indians, was noticed. In the mineral constitution of the ridges themselves, the geologist recognizes that wide-spreading drift-stratum, with boulders and pebbles of sienitic and hornblende, quartz, and sandstone rock, which is so prevalent in the region. As we approached the lake we ascended one of those sandy ridges which surround it, and dashing our way through the dense underbrush, were gratifiedon gaining its apex to behold the sylvan shores and islands of the lake, with the trading-post and flag, seen dimly in the distance. The view is preserved in the following outlines, taken on the spot.
Sandy Lake, from an eminence north of the mouth of the West Creek of the Portage of Savannah. 15th July, 1820.
I asked Chamees the Indian name of this lake. He replied, Ka-metong-aug-e-maug. This is one of those compound terms, in their languages, of which the particlekais affirmative. Metongaug, is the plural form of sandy lake. Maug is the plural form of water, corresponding, by the usual grammatical duality of meaning, to the plural form of the noun. The word might, perhaps, be adopted in the form of Kametonga.
Having heard, on our passage through Lake Superior, that a gun fired in the basin of Sandy Lake, could be heard at the fort, that experiment was tried, while we sat down or sauntered about to await the result. Having waited in vain, the shots were repeated. After the lapse of a long time, a boat, with two men, was descried in the distance approaching. It proved to be occupied by two young clerks of the trading establishment, named Ashmun and Fairbanks. They managed to embark the elite of our party, in their small vessel, and, as we crossed the lake, amused us with an account of the excitement our shots had caused. Some Indian women affirmed to them that they had heard warwhoops, and to make sure that a Sioux war party were not upon them, they drove off their cattle to a place of safety. In the actual position of affairs, the hunt being over forthe year, and the avails being sent to Michilimackinac (for this was the head-quarters of the factor whom we had met at Shelldrake River), the probabilities of its being a hunting party were less. We informed them that we were an advance party of an expedition sent out to explore the sources of the Mississippi River, under the personal order of his Excellency Governor Cass, who was urging his way up the St. Louis to the Savanna Portage, through which he intended to descend into Sandy Lake.
It was near sunset before we landed at the establishment. We found the trading fort a stockade of squared pine timber, thirteen feet high, and facing an area a hundred feet square, with bastions pierced for musketry at the southeast and northwest angles. There were three or four acres outside of one of the angles, picketed in, and devoted to the culture of potatoes. The stockade inclosed two ranges of buildings. This is the post visited by Lieut. Z. Pike, U. S. A., on snow-shoes, and with dog-trains, in the winter of 1806, when it was occupied by the British northwest trading company. As a deep mantle of snow covered the country, it did not permit minute observations on the topography or natural history; and there have been no explorations since. Pike's chief error was in placing the source of the Mississippi in Turtle Lake—a mistake which is due entirely, it is believed, to the imperfect or false maps furnished him by the chief traders of the time.
We were received with all the hospitality possible, in the actual state of things, and with every kindness; and for the first time, since leaving Detroit, we slept in a house. We were informed that we were now within two miles of the Mississippi River, into which the outlet of Sandy Lake emptied itself, and that we were five hundred miles above the Falls of St. Anthony. We had accomplished the transference of position from the head of the basin of Lake Superior, that is, from the foot of the falls of the St. Louis River, in seven days, by a route, too, certainly one of the worst imaginable, and there can be no temerity in supposing that it might be effected in light canoes in half that time.
Reunion of the expedition on the Savanna Portage—Elevation of this summit—Descent to Sandy Lake—Council with the Chippewa tribe—Who are they?—Traits of their history, language, and customs—Enter the Mississippi, with a sub-exploring party, and proceed in search of its source—Physical characteristics of the stream at this place—Character of the Canadian voyageur!
On rising on the next morning (14th July), our minds were firmly set, at the earliest moment, to rejoin the main expedition, which had been toiling its way up the St. Louis River to the Savanna Portage. And as soon as we had dispatched our breakfast at the Post, we set out, accompanied by one of the trading clerks, for that noted carrying place between the waters of the St. Louis and Sandy Lake. We reached its northwestern terminus at about twelve o'clock, and were surprised to find Gov. Cass, with some of his party, and a part of the baggage, already there; and by five o'clock in the afternoon the last of the latter, together with the canoes, arrived. And it was then, in the exhausted state of the men, and at so late an hour, concluded to encamp, and await the morning to commence the descent of the west Savannè to the lake.
The expedition had, after we left them at the Portage aux Coteaux on the 10th, and being thus relieved of our weight, urged its way up the river, with labor, about fifty-six miles, to the inlet of the east Savannè, having surmounted, in this distance, rapids of the aggregate estimated height of two hundred and twelve feet, which occupied two days. They then ascended the Savannè twenty-four miles, rising eighteen feet. The portage, from water to water, is six miles. It commences in a tamarak swamp, from which the bog, in a dry season, has been burnt off, leaving the path a mass of mire. Trees and sticks have, from time to time, been laid in this to walk on, which it requires theskill of a balancing master to keep. For the distance of threepozes[pauses] this is the condition of the path; afterwards, the footing becomes dry, and there are ascending sand ridges, which are easily crossed.
Dr. Wolcott, to whom I had handed my geological note-book, made the following observations. "We left the vertical strata of slate, about two miles above the Portage aux Coteaux. They were succeeded by rocks of hornblende, which continued the whole distance to the head of the Grand Rapid. These rocks were only to be observed in the bed of the river, and appeared to be much water-worn, and manifestly out of place. Soon after we left the Portage aux Coteaux, the hills receded from the river, and its banks for the rest of the way were generally low, often alluvial, and always covered with a thick growth of birch, elm, sugar-tree (acer saccharinum), and the whole tribe of pines, with an almost impenetrable thicket of underbrush.
"The appearances of this day (11th) have been similar to those of yesterday, except that the country bordering the river became entirely alluvial, and the poplar became the predominating growth, while the evergreen almost entirely disappeared. The rocks were seldom visible, except upon the rapids, and then only in the bed of the river, and were entirely composed of hornblende, all out of place, and exhibiting no signs of stratification, but evidently thrown confusedly together by the force of the current.
"The Savannè River is about twenty yards broad at its junction with the St. Louis, but soon narrows to about half the breadth, which it retains until it forks at the distance of about twelve miles from its mouth. Its whole course runs through a low marshy meadow, the timbered land occasionally reaching to the banks of the river, but generally keeping a distance of about twenty rods on either side. The meadow is, for the most part, covered with tufts of willow and other shrubs, common to marshes. The woods, which skirt it, are of the same kinds observed on the preceding days, except that a species of small oak frequently appears among it. The river becomes so narrow towards its head, that it is with great difficulty canoes can make their way through its windings; and the portage commences a mile or two from its source, which is in a tamarak swamp."
The height of land between the east and west Savannè, Dr.Wolcott estimates at about thirty feet. Adding to this elevation the estimates of Capt. Douglass, before mentioned, the entire elevation between the foot of the falls of the St. Louis and the apex of this summit is three hundred and sixty-eight feet.[64]
Having exchanged congratulations, and recited to each other the little personal incidents which had marked our respective tracks of entry into the country, we passed the night on the sources of this little stream; and the next morning, at five o'clock, began its descent. It is a mere brook, only deep enough, at this spot, to embark the canoes, and two men to manage them. At the distances of four, and of twelve miles, there are rapids, where half the loads are carried over portages. At the foot of the latter rapid, there is a tributary called Ox Creek, and from this point to the lake, a distance of six miles, the navigation is practicable with full loads. We entered the lake with pleasurable feelings, at the accomplishment of our transit over this summit, and after a passage of three miles over the calm and sylvan surface of the lake, the expedition reached and landed at the company's fort. It was now four o'clock in the afternoon of a most serene day, and the Indians, who were gathered on the shores, received us with a salutea la mode de savage, that is, with balls fired over our heads. Quarters were provided in the fort for such as did not prefer to lodge in tents. Understanding that there was to be a day's rest at this post, to reorganize the party, and hold intercourse with the Indians, each one prepared to make such use of his time as best subserved his purposes. Finding my baggage had been wetted and damaged on the portages in the ascent of the St. Louis, I separated the moulded and ruined from things still worth saving, and drying the latter in the sun, prepared them for further use.
On the day after our arrival (16th) a council of the Indians—the Chippewas—was convened. The principal chiefs were Kadewabedas,[65]or Broken Teeth, and Babisekundeba,[66]or the Curly Head. This tribe, it appears, are conquerors in the country, having atan early, or ante-historical age, advanced from Lake Superior, driving back the Sioux. The war between these two tribes is known to have existed since the first entry of the French into the country—then a part of New France—early in the seventeenth century. Gov. Cass proposed to them to enter into a firm peace with the Sioux, and to send a delegation with him to St. Peter's, on his return from the sources of the Mississippi. To this they assented. Speeches were made by the Indians, which it is not my purpose to record, as they embraced nothing beyond the ordinary, every-day style of the native speakers.
It was determined to encamp the heavy part of the expedition at this place, and to organize a sub-expedition of two light canoes, well manned, to explore the sources of the Mississippi River. While these arrangements are in progress, it may be proper to state something more respecting the condition and history of the Chippewa nation. And first, they are Algonquins, having migrated, at ante-Cartierian[67]periods, from the vicinity of Lake Nippesing, on the Outawis summit. Anterior to this, their own traditions place them further eastward, and their language bears evidence that the stock from which they are sprung, occupied the Atlantic from the Chesapeake, extending through New England. The name Chippewa is derived from the term Ojibwa. The latter has been variously, but not satisfactorily derived. The particlebwa, in the language, signifies voice. They are a well-formed, active race of men, and have the reputation of being good hunters and warriors. They possess the ordinary black shining eyes, black straight hair, and general physiological traits of the Indian race; and do not differ, essentially, from the northern tribes in their manners and customs. Pike, who was the first American officer to visit them, in this region, estimates the whole number seated on the Upper Mississippi, and northwest of Lake Superior, in the year 1806, at eleven thousand one hundred and seventy-seven. This estimate includes the entire population, extending south to the St. Croix and Chippewa valleys, below St. Anthony's Falls. It is believed to be much too high, for which it can be plead in extenuation, that it was the rough estimate of foreign traders, who were interested in exalting their importance to theUnited States. Certain it is, there are not more than half the numbers, in this region, at present. The number which he assigns to the Sandy Lake band is three hundred and forty-five.
The Chippewas of the Upper Mississippi are, in fact, the advanced band of the widespread Algonquin family, who, after spreading along the Atlantic from Virginia, as far as the Gulf of St. Lawrence, have followed up the great chain of lakes, to this region, leaving tribes of more or less variation of language on the way. There may have been a thousand years, or more, expended on this ethnological track, and the names by which they were, at various ages and places, known, are only important as being derivatives from a generic stock of languages whose radicals are readily recognized. Furthest removed, in the line of migration, appear the Mohicans, Lenno Lenawpees, Susquehannocks, and Powatans, and their congeners. The tribes of this continent appear, indeed, to have been impelled in circles, resembling the whirlwinds which have swept over its surface; and, so far as relates to the mental power which set them in motion, the comparison also holds good, for the effects of their migrations appear, everywhere, to have been war and destruction. One age appears to produce no wiser men than another. Having no mode of recording knowledge, experience dies with the generation who felt it, all except the doubtful and imprecise data of tradition; and this is little to be trusted, after a century or two. For the matter of exact history, they might as well trace themselves to the moon, as some of their mythological stories do, as to any other planet, or part of a planet. Of their language, the only certainly reliable thing in their history, a vocabulary is given in the Appendix. To the ear, it appears flowing and agreeable, and not of difficult utterance; and there is abundant reason, on beholding how readily they express themselves, for the plaudits which the early French writers bestowed on the Algonquin language.
We observed the custom of these Indians of placing their dead on scaffolds. The corpse is carefully wrapped in bark, and then elevated on a platform made by placing transverse pieces in forks of trees, or on posts, firmly set in the ground. This custom is said to have been borrowed by the Chippewas, of this quarter, from the Dacotahs or Sioux. When they bury in the ground,which is the general custom, a roof of bark is put over the deceased. This inclosure has an aperture cut in it at the head, through which a dish of food is set for the dead. Oblations of liquor are also sometimes made. This ancient custom of offering food and oblations to the dead, reminds the reader of similar customs among some of the barbarous tribes of the oriental world. We noticed also symbolic devices similar to those seen at Huron River or Lake Superior, inscribed on posts set at the head of Indian graves. It seems to be the prime object of these inscriptions to reveal the family name, ortotem, as it is called, of the deceased, together with devices denoting the number of times he has been in battle, and the number of scalps he has taken. As this test of bravery is the prime object of an Indian's life, the greatest efforts are made to attain it.
A word may be said as to the climate and soil of this region, and their adaptation to the purposes of agriculture. By the tables of temperature annexed (videAppendix), the mean solar heat, in the shade, during the time of our being in the country, is shown to be 67°. It is evident that it is the idle habits of the Indians, and no adverse circumstances of climate or soil, that prevent their raising crops for their subsistence.
Arrangements for a light party to ascend the Mississippi, and seek for its sources, having been made, we left Sandy Lake, in two canoes, at nine o'clock in the morning on the 17th. This party, in addition to his Excellency Gov. Cass, consisted of Dr. Alex. Wolcott, Capt. Douglass, Lieut. Mackay, Maj. Forsyth, and myself, with nineteen voyageurs and Indians, provisioned for twelve days. A voyage of about a mile across the western prolongation of the lake, brought us to its outlet—a wide winding stream, with a very perceptible current, and rich alluvial banks, bearing a forest. After pursuing it some mile and a half, we descended a small rapid, where the average descent of water in a short distance may be perhaps three feet; it appeared, however, to give the men no concern, for they urged their way down it, with full strength of paddle and song, and we soon found ourselves in the Mississippi. The first sight of this stream reminded me of one of its striking characteristics, at far lower points, namely, its rapidity. Its waters are slightly turbid, with a reddish tint. Its width, at this point, as denoted by admeasurementssubsequently made,[68]is three hundred and thirty-one feet. Its banks are alluvial and of a fertile aspect, bearing a forest of oaks, maples, elms, ash, and pines, with a dense undergrowth of shrubbery. I observed a species of polyganum in the water's edge, and wherever we attempted to land it was miry and the borders wet and damp. We were now, from our notes, a hundred and forty-seven miles due west of the head of Lake Superior, by the curved lines of travelling, and probably one hundred in an air line; and had struck the channel of the Mississippi, not less, by the estimates, than two thousand five hundred miles above its mouth on the Gulf of Mexico. It could not, from the very vague accounts we could obtain from the traders, originate, at the utmost, more than three hundred miles higher, and our Canadian voyageurs turned up the stream, with that Troubadour air, orgaite de cour, keeping time with song and paddle, with which New France had at first been traversed by its Champlains, Marquettes, and Frontenacs. To conquer distance and labor, at the same time, with a song, has occurred to no other people, and if these men are not happy, in these voyages, they, at least, have the semblance of it, and are merry. To keep up this flow of spirits, and bravery of capacity in demolishing distances, they always overrate the per diem travel, which, as I have before observed, is put about one-third too high—that is to say, their league is about two miles. On we went, at this rapid rate, stopping every half hour to rest five minutes. During this brief rest, their big kettle of boiled corn and pork was occasionally brought forward, and dipped in, with great fervency of spoon; but, whether eating or working, they were always gay, and most completely relieved from any care of what might happen to-morrow. For the mess kettle was ever most amply supplied, and not according to the scanty pattern which these couriers de bois often encounter in the Indian trade on these summits, when they are sometimes reduced to dine on tripe de Roche and sup on buton de rose; but they bore in mind that their employer, namely, Uncle Sam, was a full-handed man, and they kept up a most commendable mental balance, by at once eating strong and working strong.
During the first twenty-seven miles, above the inlet of SandyLake, we passed six small rapids, at distances of three, four, three, one, five, and eleven miles, where the river sinks its level twenty-nine feet, in the estimated aggregate distance of seven hundred yards.[69]Above the latter, extending twenty miles, to the point of our encampment, there is no perceptible rapid. It was eight o'clock when we encamped, having been eleven hours in our canoes, without stretching our legs, and we had ascended forty-six miles.
Proceed up the Mississippi River—Its velocity and character—Swan River—Trout River, and Mushkoda or Prairie River—Rapids ascended—Reach, and make a portage around Pakagama Falls—Enter a vast lacustrine region—Its character and productions, vegetable and animal—Tortuous channel—Vermilion and Deer Rivers—Leech Lake branch—Lake Winnipek—Ascent of the river to Upper Red Cedar, or Cass Lake—Physical character of the Mississippi River.
Our encampment was near the mouth of Swan River, a considerable stream, originating in Swan Lake, near the head of the St. Louis River of Lake Superior.
We had been pushing our way, daily, up to our arrival at Sandy Lake; but the word, from leaving that point, was, emphatically, push—and we can hardly be said to have taken proper time to eat or sleep. There was a shower of rain, during the night; it ceased at four o'clock, and we again embarked at five, in a cloudy and misty morning, and it continued cloudy all day. The current of the Mississippi continues to be strong; its velocity, during the ascent of this day, was computed by Capt. Douglass at two and a half miles per hour. We passed a rapid about six miles below Trout River, where there is a computed descent of three feet in a hundred and fifty yards. A few miles before reaching Trout River, we passed through a forest of dead pines, occupying ridges of sand, through which the river has cut its way. Four miles above the entrance of Trout River, we passed the mouth of a considerable stream, called by the Chippewas Mushkoda, or Prairie River, and encamped about five hundred yards above its mouth on a high sandy elevation. It was now eight o'clock P.M. We had ascended the river fifty-one miles, having been fifteen hours in our canoes, and we here first took our breakfast. This severity of fasting was, I think, quite unintentional, the mess-basket being in the other canoe,which kept ahead of us the entire day. We had this day observed specimens of the Unio and some other species of fresh-water shells along the shore. And of birds, besides the duck, plover, and loon, which frequent the water, we noticed the thrush, robin, blackbird, and crow. The comparative coolness of the day rendered the annoyance from mosquitos less severe than we had found them the preceding day. The night on this sandy and bleak elevation proved cool, with a heavy dew, which resulted in a dense fog in the morning. We found ice on the bottoms of the canoes, which are turned up at night, of the thickness of a knife-blade.
Our third day's ascent witnessed no diminution of the strength and alacrity with which our canoemen urged our way up the stream. We were off betimes, in a lowering and dense atmosphere, which obscured objects. After advancing some six miles, there are a series of small rapids, which are, taken together, called Ka-ka-bi-ka,[70]where I estimated the river to sink its level sixteen feet, in a short distance; at none of these is the navigation, however, impeded. The rock stratification appears too compact for sand-rock, and is obscured by contiguous boulders, which are indicative of the strong drift-formation, which has spread from the north and east over this region. Four miles after ascending the last of the Kakabika Rapids, we landed at the foot of the Pakagama Falls. Here the lading was immediately put ashore, the canoes landed, and the whole carried over an Indian portage path of two hundred and seventy-five yards. This delay afforded an opportunity to view the falls. The Mississippi, at this point, forces its way through a formation of quartzy rock, during which it sinks its level, as estimated, twenty feet, in a distance of about three hundred yards. There is no perceptible cascade or abrupt fall, but the river rushes with the utmost velocity down a highly inclined rocky bed towards the northeast. It forms a complete interruption to navigation, and must, hereafter, be the terminus of the navigation of that class of small steamboats which may be introduced above the Falls of St. Anthony. The general elevation of the geological stratum at the top of this fall must bebut little under fourteen hundred feet above the Gulf of Mexico.[71]This summit bears a growth of the yellow pine. I observed, amongst the shrubs, the vaccinium dumosum. Immediately above the falls is a small rocky island, bearing a growth of spruce and cedars, being the first island noticed above Sandy Lake. This island parts the channel into two, at the precise point of its precipitation. On coming to the head of these falls, we appear to have reached a vast geological plateau, consisting of horizontal deposits of clay and drift on the nucleus of granitical and metamorphic rocks, which underlie the sources of the Mississippi River. The vast and irregular bodies of water called Leech Lake, Winnipek, and Cass Lakes, together with a thousand lesser lakes of a mile or two in circumference, lie on this great diluvial summit. These lakes spread east and west over a surface of not less than two hundred miles; most of them are connected with channels of communication forming a tortuous and intricate system of waters, only well known to the Indians; and there seems the less wonder that the absolute and most remote source of the Mississippi has so long remained a matter of doubt.
By the time we had well seen the falls, and made some sketches and notes, the indefatigable canoemen announced our baggage all carried over the portage, and the canoes put into the water. Embarking, at this point, we found the river had lost its velocity; it was often difficult to determine that it had any current at all. We wound about, by a most tortuous channel, through savannas where coarse species of grass, flags, reeds, and wild rice struggled for the mastery. The whole country appeared to be one flat surface, where the sameness of the objects, the heat of the weather, and the excessively serpentine channel of the river, conspired to render the way tedious. The banks of the river were but just elevated above these illimitable fields of grass and aquatic plants. In these banks the gulls had their nests, and as they were disturbed they uttered deafening screams. Water-fowl were intruded upon at every turn, the blackbird and rail chattered over their clusters of reeds and cat-tails; the falcon screamed on high, as he quietly sailed above our heads, and the whole feathered creation appeared to be decidedly intruded on by our unwonted advanceinto the great watery plateau, to say nothing of the small and unimportant class of reptiles who inhabit the region.
Forty miles above the falls, the River Vermilion flows in through these savannas on the left hand; and three miles higher the Deer River is tributary on the right hand. We ascended six miles above the latter, and encamped in a dry prairie, on the same side, at a late hour. The men reported themselves to have travelled sixteen leagues, notwithstanding their detention on the Pakagama Portage. How far we had advanced, in a direct line, is very questionable. At one spot, we estimated ourselves to have passed, by the river's involutions, nine miles, but to have advanced directly but one mile. I noticed, on the meadow at this spot, a small and very delicious species of raspberry, the plant not rising higher than three or four inches. This species, of which I preserved both the roots and fruit, I referred to Dr. J. Torrey, of New York, who pronounced it the Rebus Nutkanus of Moçino—a species found by this observer in the Oregon regions. It is now known to occur eastwardly, to upper Michigan. As night approached on these elevated prairies, we observed for the first time the fire-fly.
The next morning (20th) we were again in motion at half-past five o'clock. It had rained during the night, and the morning was cloudy, with a dense fog. At the distance of ten miles, we passed the Leech Lake River. This is a very considerable river, bringing in, apparently, one-third as much water as the main branch. It is, however, but fifty miles in length, and is merely the outlet of the large lake bearing that name. It was thought the current of the Mississippi denoted greater velocity above this point, while the water exhibited greater clearness. We had still the same savanna regions, with a serpentine channel to encounter. Through this the men urged their way for a distance of thirty-five miles, when Winnipek Lake displayed itself before us. The waters of this lake have a whitish, slightly turbid aspect, after the prevalence of storms, which appears to reveal its shallowness, with a probably whitish clay bottom. The Chippewa name of Winnebeegogish[72]is, indeed, derivative from this circumstance. This lake is stated to be ten miles in its greatest length. We crossed it transversely in order to strike the inlet of the Mississippi, and encamped on the other side. In this transit we met a couple of Indian women in a canoe, who, being interrogated by the interpreter, stated that they came to observe whether the wild rice, which is quite an item of the Indian subsistence in this quarter, was matured enough to be tied into clusters for beating out. We estimated our advance this day, by the time denoted by the chronometer, at fifty-one miles.
We were again in our canoes the next morning at half-past four o'clock. In coasting along the north shores of Winnipek Lake, an object of limy whiteness attracted our attention, which turned out to be a small island composed of granitical and other boulders, which had served as the resting-place of birds, for which the region above the Pakagama Falls is so remarkable. On landing, a dead pelican was stretched on the surface. We had not before observed this species on the river, and named the island Shayta, from its Chippewa name. The buzzard, cormorant, brant, eagle, and raven had hitherto constituted the largest species. Along the shores of the river, the king-fisher and heron had been frequent objects. With respect to the cormorant, it was observed that the Indians classify it with the species of duck, their name for it, ka-ga-ge-sheeb, signifying, literally, crow-duck.
On again reaching the inlet of the Mississippi, its size and appearance corresponded so exactly to its character below the Winnipek, that it had evidently experienced but little or no change by passing through this lake. The same width and volume were observed which it had below this point; the same moderate velocity; the same borders of grassy savanna, and the same tendency to redouble its length, by its contortions, appeared. In some places, however, it approaches those extensive ridges of sandy formation, bearing pines, which traverse, or rather bound, these wide savannas. Through these channels the canoemen urged their course with their usual alacrity—now stopping a few moments to breathe, and then, striking their paddles again in the water with renewed vigor, and often starting off with one of their animated canoe-songs. From about eight o'clock in the morning till two in the afternoon we proceeded up the winding thread of this channel, when the appearance of a large body of water in the distance before us attracted attention. It was the first glimpsewe had of the upper Red Cedar Lake. The Mississippi River here deploys itself in one of those large sheets of pellucid water which are so characteristic of its sources. On reaching the estuary at its entrance, a short halt was made. A large body of the most transparent water spread out before us. Its outlines, towards the south, were only bounded by the line of the horizon. In the distance appeared the traces of wooded islands. If Sandy Lake had, on emerging from the wilderness, impressed us with its rural beauty, this far transcended it in the variety and extent of outlines, and that oceanic amplitude of freshness, which so often inspires admiration in beholding the interior American lakes. It was determined to cross a part of the lake towards the north-east, in order to strike the site of an ancient Indian village at the mouth of Turtle River; and under the influences of a serene day, and one of their liveliest chants, the men pushed for that point, which was reached at three o'clock in the afternoon of the 21st July. The spot at which we landed was the verge of a green lawn, rising in a short distance to a handsome eminence, crowned with oaks and maples. One or two small log tenements stood on this slope occupied by two Canadians in the service of the American Fur Company. Several wigwams of bark and poles lifted their fragile conical forms on either side.
In one of these tenements, consisting of a small cabin of poles, sheathed with bark, we found an object of human misery which excited our sympathies. It was in the person of one of the Canadians, to whom reference has been made, of the name of Montruille. He had, in the often severe peregrinations of the fur trade in this quarter, been caught in a snow-storm during the last winter, and frozen both his feet in so severe a manner that they eventually sloughed off, and he could no longer stand upright or walk. He lay on the ground in a most pitiable state of dejection, with the stumps of his legs bound up with deer skins, with a gray, long-neglected beard, and an aspect of extreme despair. English he could not speak; and the French he uttered was but an abuse of the noble gift of language to call down denunciations on those who had deserted him, or left him thus to his fate. A rush mat lay under him. He had no covering. He was emaciated to the last degree, every bone in his body seemed visible through the skin. His cheeks were fallen in, and his eyes sunk in their sockets, butdarting a look of despair. His Indian wife had deserted him. Food, of an inadequate quality, was occasionally thrown in to him. Such were the accounts we received. Governor Cass directed groceries, ammunition, and presents of clothing to be made to him, to the latter of which, every member of the party added. He also engaged a person to convey him to Sandy Lake.