Summary Narrative of an Exploratory Expedition to the Sources of the Mississippi River, in 1820

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Title: Summary Narrative of an Exploratory Expedition to the Sources of the Mississippi River, in 1820

Author: Henry Rowe Schoolcraft

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DISCOVERY OF THE SOURCES OF THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER.

SUMMARY NARRATIVE OF AN EXPLORATORY EXPEDITION
TO THE SOURCES OF THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER, IN 1820:

Resumed and Completed, by the Discovery of Its Origin
in Itasca Lake, in 1832.

By Authority of the United States.

With Appendixes,

Comprising the Original Report on the Copper Mines of Lake
Superior, and Observations on the Geology of the Lake Basins,
and the Summit of the Mississippi;

Together with
All the Official Reports and Scientific Papers of Both Expeditions.

HENRY R. SCHOOLCRAFT.

Philadelphia:
Lippincott, Grambo, and Co.
1855.

Entered according to the Act of Congress in the year 1854, by
Lippincott, Grambo, and Co.,
in the Office of the Clerk of the District Court of the United
States, in and for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.

[ORIGINAL DEDICATION.]

TO THE HON. JOHN C. CALHOUN, SECRETARY OF WAR.

SIR: Allow me to inscribe to you the following Journals, as an
illustration of my several reports on the mineral geography of the
regions visited by the recent Expedition under Governor Cass.

I beg you will consider it, not only as a proof of my anxiety to be
serviceable in the station occupied, but also as a tribute of individual
respect for those exertions which have been made, during your
administration of the War Department, to develop the physical character
and resources of all parts of our Western country; for the patronage it
has extended to the cause of geographical science; for the protection it
has afforded to a very extensive line of frontier settlements by
stretching a cordon of military posts around them; and for the notice it
has bestowed on one of the humblest cultivators of natural science.

HENRY R. SCHOOLCRAFT.
ALBANY, 1821.

PREFACE.

The following pages embrace the substance of the narratives of two
distinct expeditions for the discovery of the sources of the Mississippi
River, under the authority of the United States. By connecting the
incidents of discovery, and of the facts brought to light during a
period of twelve years, unity is preserved in the prosecution of an
object of considerable importance in the progress of our geography and
natural history, at least, from the new impulse which they received
after the treaty of Ghent.

Geographers deem that branch of a river as its true source which
originates at the remotest distance from its mouth, and, agreeably to
this definition, the combined narratives, to which attention is now
called, show this celebrated stream to arise in Itasca Lake, the source
of the Itasca River.

Owing to the time which has intervened since these expeditions were
undertaken, a mere revision of the prior narrations, in the _journal
form_, was deemed inexpedient. A concise summary has, therefore, been
made, preserving whatever information it was thought important to be
known or remembered, and omitting all matters not partaking of permanent
interest.

To this summary, something has been added from the original manuscript
journals in his possession. The domestic organization and social habits
of the parties may thus be more perfectly understood. The sympathies
which bind men together in isolated or trying scenes are sources of
interest long after the link is severed, and the progress of science or
discovery has passed beyond the particular points at which they then
stood. Events pass with so much rapidity at present, in the diffusion of
our population over regions where, but lately, the Indian was the only
tenant, that we are in danger of having but a confused record of them,
if not of losing it altogether. It is some abatement of this fear to
know that there is always a portion of the community who take a pleasure
in remembering individuals; who have either ventured their lives, or
exerted their energies, to promote knowledge or advance discovery. It is
in this manner that, however intent an age may be in the plans which
engross it, the sober progress and attainments of the period are counted
up. An important fact discovered in the physical geography or natural
history of the country, if it be placed on record, remains a fact added
to the permanent stores of information. A new plant, a crystal, an
insect, or the humblest invertebrate object of the zoological chain, is
as incontestable an addition to scientific knowledge, as the finding of
remains to establish a new species of mastodon. They only differ in
interest and importance.

It is not the province of every age to produce a Linnæus, a Buffon, or a
Cuvier; but, such are the almost endless forms of vegetable and animal
life and organization--from the infusoria upward--that not a year
elapses which may not enlarge the boundaries of science. The record of
discovery is perpetually accumulating, and filling the list of
discoverers with humbler, yet worthy names. Whoever reads with care the
scientific desiderata here offered will find matter of description or
comment which has employed the pens of a Torrey, a Mitchell, a Cooper, a
Lea, a Barnes, a Houghton, and a Nicollet.

It is from considerations of this nature, that the author has appended
to this narrative the original observations, reports, and descriptions
made by his companions or himself, while engaged in these exploratory
journeys, together with the determinations made on such scientific
objects as were referred to other competent hands. These investigations
of the physical geography of the West, and the phenomena or resources of
the country, constitute, indeed, by far the most important permanent
acquisitions of the scrutiny devoted to them. They form the elements of
classes of facts which will retain their value, to men of research, when
the incidents of the explorations are forgotten, and its actors
themselves have passed to their final account.

It would have been desirable that what has here been done should have
been done at an earlier period; but it may be sufficient to say that
other objects engrossed the attention of the author for no small part of
the intervening period, and that he could not earlier control the
circumstances which the publication demanded. After his permanent return
from the West--where so many years of his life passed--it was his first
wish to accomplish a long-cherished desire of visiting England and the
Continent, in which America, and its manners and institutions, might be
contemplated at a distance, and compared by ocular proofs. And, when he
determined on the task of preparing this volume, and began to look
around for the companions of his travels, to avail himself of their
notes, he found most of them had descended to the tomb. For the
narrative parts, indeed, the manuscript journals, kept with great
fulness, were still preserved; but the materials for the other division
of the work were widely scattered. Some of them remained in the archives
of the public offices to which they were originally communicated. Other
papers had been given to the pages of scientific journals, and their
reprint was inexpedient. The rich body of topographical data, and the
elaborately drawn map of this portion of the United States, prepared by
Captain Douglass, U. S. A., which would have been received with avidity
at the time, had been in a great measure superseded by subsequent
discoveries.[1] The only part of this officer's observations employed in
this work, are his determinations of the geographical positions. The
latter have been extended and perfected by the subsequent observations
of Mr. Nicollet. At every point, there have been difficulties to
overcome. He has been strenuous to award justice to his deceased
companions, to whose memory he is attached by the ties of sympathy and
former association. If more time has elapsed in preparing the work than
was anticipated, it is owing to the nature of it; and he can only say
that still more time and attention would be required to do justice to
it.

[1] This remark is limited to the country south of about 46°. North
of that point, there are no explorations known to me, except those of
Lieutenant James Allen, who accompanied me above Cass Lake, in 1832,
and those of J. N. Nicollet, in 1836, which were reported by him to
the Topographical Bureau, and by the latter transmitted to
Congress.--Vide _Senate Doc._ No. 237, 1843. These observations
relate to the line of the Mississippi. Maj. Long's journey, in 1823,
was _west_ and _north_ of that river.

A word may be added respecting the period of these explorations. The
year 1820 marked a time of much activity in geographical discovery in
the United States. The treaty of Ghent, a few years before, had relieved
the frontiers from a most sanguinary Indian war. This event enlarged the
region for settlement, and created an intense desire for information
respecting the new countries. Government had, indeed, at an earlier
period, shown a disposition to aid and encourage discoveries. The
feeling on this subject cannot be well understood, without allusion to
the name of John Ledyard. This intrepid traveller had accompanied
Captain Cook on his last voyage round the world. In 1786, he presented
himself to Mr. Jefferson, the American minister at Paris, with a plan of
extensive explorations. He proposed to set out from St. Petersburg, and,
passing through Russia and Tartary to Behring's Straits, to traverse the
north Pacific to Oregon, and thence cross the Rocky Mountains to the
Missouri Valley.[2] Mr. Jefferson communicated the matter to the Russian
plenipotentiary at Paris--and to the Baron Grimm, the confidential agent
of the Empress Catherine--through whose influence he received the
required passports. He proceeded on this adventure, and had reached
within two hundred miles of Kamschatka, where he was arrested, and taken
back, in a close carriage, to Moscow, and thence conducted to the
frontiers of Poland. On reaching London, the African Association
selected him to make explorations in the direction of the Niger.
Reaching Egypt, he proceeded up the Nile to Cairo, where, having
completed his preparations for entering the interior of Africa, he
sickened and died, in the month of November, 1788.--_Life of Ledyard_,
Sparks's _Amer. Biog._ vol. xvi.

The suggestion of Ledyard to explore Oregon became the germ of the
voyages of Lewis and Clark. It appears that, in 1792, Mr. Jefferson
proposed the subject to the American Philosophical Society at
Philadelphia.[2] It is not known that its action resulted in anything
practical. After Mr. Jefferson himself, however, came to the presidency,
in 1801, he called the attention of Congress to the matter. Louisiana
had been acquired, under his auspices, in 1803, which furnished a strong
public reason for its exploration. To conduct it, he selected his
private secretary and relative, Merriweather Lewis, of Virginia;
Captain William Clark was named as his assistant. Both these gentlemen
were commissioned in the army, and the expense thus placed on a public
basis. Captain Lewis left the city of Washington, on this enterprise, on
the 5th of July, 1803, and was joined by Captain Clark west of the
Alleghanies. Having organized the expedition at St. Louis, they began
the ascent of the Missouri River on the 14th of May, 1804. They wintered
the first year at Fort Mandan, about 1,800 miles up the Missouri, in the
country of the Mandans. Crossing the Rocky Mountains the next year, and
descending the Columbia to the open shore of the Pacific, they retraced
their general course to the waters of the Missouri, in 1806, and
returned to St. Louis on the 23d of September of that year. (_Lewis and
Clark_, vol. ii. p. 433.)

[2] Lewis and Clark.

To explore the Missouri to its source, and leave the remote summits of
the Mississippi untouched, would seem to have ill-accorded with Mr.
Jefferson's conceptions. It does not appear, however, from published
data, that he selected the person to perform the latter service, leaving
it to the military commandant of the district. (_Life of Pike_, Sparks's
_Amer. Biog._ vol. xv. pp. 220, 281.) General Wilkinson, who had been
directed to occupy Louisiana, appears to have made the selection. He
designated Lieutenant Zebulon Montgomery Pike. This officer left
Bellefontaine, Missouri, on the 9th of August, 1805, with a total force
of twenty men, at least four months too late in the season to reach even
the central part of his destination, without an aid in the command,
without a scientific observer of any description, and without even an
interpreter to communicate with the Indians. That he should have
accomplished what he did, is altogether owing to his activity,
vigilance, and enterprise, his knowledge of hunting and forest life, and
his well-established habits of mental and military discipline. Winter
overtook him, on the 16th of October, in his ascent, when he was about
one hundred and twenty miles (as now ascertained) above the Falls of St.
Anthony.[3] Severe cold, snow, and ice, rendered it impossible to push
his boats further. Devoting twelve days in erecting a blockhouse, and
leaving his heavy stores and disabled men in charge of a non
commissioned officer, he proceeded onwards, on snow shoes, with small
hand-sledges, and, by great energy and perseverance, reached, at
successive periods, Sandy Lake, Leach Lake, and Upper Red Cedar Lake, on
the third great plateau at the sources of the Mississippi. On the
opening of the river, he began his descent, and returned to his
starting-point, at Bellefontaine, on the 30th of April, 1806, having
been absent a little less than nine months. On his visiting the country
above the point where the climate arrested his advance, the whole region
was found to be clothed in a mantle of snow. On his journey, the deer,
elk, buffalo, and wolf, were found on the prairies--the waters were
inhabited by wild fowl; as he acted the part of hunter, and, to some
extent, guide, these furnished abundant employ for his efficient
sportsman-like propensities. Of its distinctive zoology, minerals,
plants, and other physical desiderata, it was not in his power, had he
been ever so well prepared, to make observations. Even for the
topography, above the latitude of about 46°, he was dependent,
essentially, on the information furnished by the factors of the
Northwest British Fur Company, who, at that period, occupied the
country.[4] This information was readily given, and enabled him, with
general accuracy, to present the maps and descriptions which accompany
his account of the region. He was, however, misled in placing the source
of the river in Turtle Lake, and in the topography of the region south
and west of that point.

[3] Estimated by him at 233 miles.

[4] The surrender of the lake country by Great Britain, in 1796, at
the close of what is known as General Wayne's war, extended to
Michilimackinac, the remotest British garrison. The region northwest
of this post was occupied by numerous tribes of Indians, who
continued to be supplied with goods by British traders till after the
close of the war of 1812. In 1816, Congress passed an act confining
the trade to American citizens. Under this state of affairs, the
Northwest Company of Montreal sold out their trading-posts and
fixtures, northwest of Michilimackinac, to Mr. John Jacob Astor, of
New York, who, from an account of one of his active factors, invested
about $300,000 per annum in merchandise adapted to the Indian habits.

Pike's account of his expedition did not issue from the press till 1810.
The narrative of the expedition of Lewis and Clark was still longer
delayed--owing to the melancholy death of Lewis--and was not given till
1814; a period of political commotion by no means favorable to literary
matters. It was, however, at once hailed as a valuable and standard
accession to geographical science. Public opinion had for years been
called to this daring enterprise.

Such was the state of geographical discovery in the United States in
1816. The war with Great Britain had had an exhausting effect upon the
resources and fiscal condition of the country. But, owing to the
information gained by the operation of armies in the ample area west of
the Alleghanies, it opened a new world for enterprise in that quarter.
The treaty of 1814 with Great Britain, which affirmed the original
boundaries of 1783, by terminating, at the same time, the war and the
fallacious hopes of sovereignty set up for the Indian tribes, truly
opened the Mississippi Valley to settlement.

All eyes were turned to the general climate of the West, and its
capacities of growth and expansion. The universal ardor which then arose
and was spread, of its fertility, extent, and resources, has, from that
era, filled the public mind, and fixed the liveliest hopes of the
extension of the Union.

The accession of Mr. Monroe to the presidency, 4th March, 1817, formed
the opening of this new epoch of industrial empire and progress in the
West. This period brought into the administration a man of great grasp
of intellect and energy of character in Mr. Calhoun. By placing the army
in a series of self-sustaining posts on the frontiers, in advance of the
settlements, he gave them efficient protection against the still
feverish tribes, who hovered--feeble and dejected from the results of
the war, but in broken, discordant, and hostile masses--around the long
and still dangerous line of the frontiers, from Florida to Detroit and
the Falls of St. Anthony. He encouraged every means of acquiring true
information of its geography and resources. In 1819, the military line
was extended to Council Bluffs, on the Missouri, and to the Falls of St.
Anthony, on the Mississippi. Major S. H. Long, of the Topographical
Engineers, was directed to ascend the Missouri, for the purpose of
exploring the region west to the Rocky Mountains. During the same year,
he approved a plan for exploring the sources of the Mississippi,
submitted by General Cass, who occupied the northwestern frontiers.

The author having then returned from the exploration of the Ozark
Highlands, and the mine country of Missouri and Arkansas,[5] received
from Mr. Calhoun the appointment of geologist and mineralogist on this
expedition; and having, at a subsequent period, been selected, as the
leader of the expedition of 1832, to resume and complete the discoveries
under the same authority, commenced in 1820, it is to the journals and
notes kept on these separate occasions, that he is indebted for the data
of the narratives and for the body of information now submitted.

[5] _Vide_ Scenes and Adventures in the Semi-Alpine Region of the
Ozark Mountains of Missouri and Arkansas, with a View of the
Lead-Mines of Missouri. New York, 1819. Philadelphia: Lippincott,
Grambo, and Co. 1 vol. 8vo. pp. 256. 1853.

WASHINGTON, D. C., October 24, 1854.

CONTENTS.

EXPEDITION OF 1820.

INTRODUCTION 17

PRELIMINARY DOCUMENTS 25

NARRATIVE OF THE EXPEDITION 37

CHAPTER I.

Departure--Considerations on visiting the northern summits early in
the season--Cross the Highlands of the Hudson--Incidents of the
journey from Albany to Buffalo--Visit Niagara Falls--Their
grandeur the effect of magnitude--Embark on board the steamer
Walk-in-the-Water--Passage up Lake Erie--Reach Detroit 39

CHAPTER II.

Preparations for the expedition--Constitution of the party--Mode of
travel in canoes--Embarkation, and incidents of the journey across
the Lake, and up the River St. Clair--Head winds encountered on
Lake Huron--Point aux Barques--Cross Saganaw Bay--Delays in
ascending the Huron coast--Its geology and natural history--Reach
Michilimackinac 47

CHAPTER III.

Description of Michilimackinac--Prominent scenery--Geology--Arched
Rock--Sugarloaf Rock--History--Statistics--Mineralogy--Skull
Cave--Manners--Its fish, agriculture, moral wants--Ingenious
manufactures of the Indians--Fur trade--Etymology of the
word--Antique bones disclosed in the interior of the island 59

CHAPTER IV.

Proceed down the north shore of Lake Huron to the entrance of the
Straits of St. Mary's--Character of the shores, and
incidents--Ascend the river to Sault Ste. Marie--Hostilities
encountered there--Intrepidity of General Cass 72

CHAPTER V.

Embark at the head of the portage at St. Mary's--Entrance into Lake
Superior--Journey and incidents along its coasts--Great Sand
Dunes--Pictured Rocks--Grand Island--Keweena peninsula and
portage--Incidents thence to Ontonagon River 83

CHAPTER VI.

Chippewa village at the mouth of the Ontonagon--Organize an expedition
to explore its mineralogy--Incidents of the trip--Rough nature of
the country--Reach the Copper Rock--Misadventure--Kill a
bear--Discoveries of copper--General remarks on the mineral
affluence of the basin of Lake Superior 94

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 102

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 main 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 110

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 the main exploring
party, and proceed in search of its source--Physical
characteristics of the stream at this place--Character of
the Canadian voyageur 118

CHAPTER X.

Proceed up the Mississippi River--Its velocity and character--Swan
River--Trout River, and Mushcoda 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 126

CHAPTER XI.

Physical traits of the Mississippi--The elevation of its
sources--Its velocity and mean descent--Etymology of the name
Mississippi--Descent of the river to Sandy Lake, and thence
to the Falls of St. Anthony--Recross the great Bitobi
Savanna--Pakagama formation--Description of the voyage
from Sandy Lake to Pine River--Brief notices of the natural
history 137

CHAPTER XII.

Description of the descent from Pine River--Pine tracts--Confluence
of the Crow-wing River--Enter a sylvan region--prairies and
groves, occupied by deer, elk, and buffalo--Sport of buffalo
hunting--Reach elevations of sienitic and metamorphic
rocks--Discover a pictographic inscription of the Sioux, by
which they denote a desire for peace--Pass the Osaukes, St.
Francis's, Corneille, and Rum Rivers--St. Anthony's
Falls--Etymology of the name--Geographical considerations 145

CHAPTER XIII.

Position of the military post established at the mouth of
the St. Peter's--Beauty, salubrity, and fertility of the
country--Pictographic letter--Indian treaty--The appearance
of the offer of frankincense in the burning of
tobacco--Opwagonite--native pigments--Salt; native copper--The
pouched or prairie rat--Minnesota squirrel--Etymology of
the Indian name of St. Peter's River--Antiquities--Sketch
of the Dacota--Descent of the Mississippi to Little Crow's
village--Feast of green corn 153

CHAPTER XIV.

Descent of the river from the site of Little Crow's Village to
Prairie du Chien--Incidents of the voyage, and notices of
the scenery and natural history 162

CHAPTER XV.

Mr. Schoolcraft makes a visit to the lead mines of
Dubuque--Incidents of the trip--Description of the
mines--The title of occupancy, and the mode of the mines
being worked by the Fox tribe of Indians--Who are the Foxes? 169

CHAPTER XVI.

The expedition proceeds from Prairie du Chien up the Wisconsin
Valley--Incidents of the ascent--Etymology of the name--The low
state of its waters favorable to the observation of its
fresh-water conchology--Cross the Wisconsin summit, and descend
the Fox River to Winnebago Lake 178

CHAPTER XVII.

Descent of the Fox River from Winnebago Lake to Green
Bay--Incidents--Etymology, conchology, mineralogy--Falls of the
Konomic and Kakala--Population and antiquity of the settlement
of Green Bay--Appearances of a tide, not sustained 186

CHAPTER XVIII.

The expedition traces the west shores of Lake Michigan southerly
to Chicago--Outline of the journey along this coast--Sites of
Manitoowoc, Sheboigan, Milwaukie, Racine, and Chicago, being the
present chief towns and cities of Wisconsin and Illinois on the
west shores of that Lake--Final reorganization of the party and
departure from Chicago 193

CHAPTER XIX.

South and Eastern borders of Lake Michigan--Their Flora and
Fauna--Incidents of the journey--Topography--Geology, Botany,
and Mineralogy--Indian Tribes--Burial-place of Marquette--Ruins
of the post of old Mackinac--Reach Michilimackinac after a
canoe journey north of four hundred miles 200

CHAPTER XX.

Topographical survey of the northern shores of Green Bay and of the
entire basin of Lake Michigan--Geological and Mineralogical
indicia of the coast line--Era of sailing vessels and of the
steamboat on the lakes--Route along the Huron coast, and return of
the expedition to Detroit 210

EXPEDITION OF 1832.

DISCOVERY OF THE SOURCE OF THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER IN ITASCA LAKE 221

CHAPTER XXI.

The search for the veritable source of the Mississippi is
resumed.--Ascent to Cass Lake, the prior point of
discovery--Pursue the river westerly, through the Andrúsian
Lakes and up the Metoswa Rapids, forty-five miles--Queen
Anne's Lake 223

CHAPTER XXII.

Ascent of the Mississippi above Queen Anne's Lake--Reach the
primary forks of the river--Ascend the left-hand, or minor
branch--Lake Irving--Lake Marquette--Lake La Salle--Lake
Plantagenet--Encamp at the Naiwa rapids at the base of the
Height of Land, or Itasca Summit 231

CHAPTER XXIII.

The Expedition having reached the source of the east fork in
Assawa Lake, crosses the highlands of the Hauteurs de Terre
to the source of the main or west fork in Itasca Lake 239

CHAPTER XXIV.

Descent of the west, or Itascan branch--Kakabikoñs Falls--Junction
of the Chemaun, Peniddiwin, or De Soto, and Allenoga
Rivers--Return to Cass Lake 246

CHAPTER XXV.

The expedition proceeds to strike the source of the great
Crow-Wing River, by the Indian trail and line of interior
portages, by way of Leech Lake, the seat of the warlike tribe
of the Pillagers, or Mukundwa 251

CHAPTER XXVI.

Geographical account of Leech Lake--History of its Indians, the
Mukundwas--The expedition proceeds to the source of the
Crow-Wing River, and descends that stream, in its whole length,
to the Mississippi 258

CHAPTER XXVII.

Complete the exploration of the Crow-Wing River of
Minnesota--Indian council--Reach St. Anthony's Falls--Council
with the Sioux--Ascent and exploration of the River St. Croix
and Misakoda, or Broulé, of Lake Superior--Return of the party
to St. Mary's Falls, Michigan 265

APPENDIX NO. 1.

Departmental Reports 279
General Cass's Official Report 280
" " Memoir suggesting further Explorations 285
" " Personal Testimonial 287
" " Communication on Indian Hieroglyphics, &c. 430
" " Queries respecting Indian History, &c. 438
Indian History and Languages 430
Topography and Astronomy 288
Mineralogy and Geology 292
Mr. Schoolcraft's Report on Copper Mines 292
" " on Geology and Mineralogy 303
" " on the Value of the Mineral Lands on Lake Superior 362
" Memoir on the Geology of Western New York 381
" on the Elementary Sounds of the Chippewa Language 442
Botany 408
Zoology 408
Meteorology 418

APPENDIX NO. 2.

Indian Language 453
Mr. Schoolcraft's Essay on the Indian Substantive 453
" " on the Noun-Adjective 489
" " on the Principles of the Pronoun 502
Natural History 515
Conchology 515
Botany 519
Mineralogy and Geology 526
Mr. Schoolcraft's Remarks on the Occurrence of Silver 531
" General List of Mineral Localities 534
" Geological Outline of Taquimenon Valley 537
" Suggestions respecting the Epoch of the St. Mary's Sandstone 539

INTRODUCTION.

Charlevoix informs us that the discovery of the Mississippi River is due
to father Marquette, a Jesuit missionary, who manifested the most
unwearied enterprise in exploring the north-western regions of New
France; and after laying the foundation of Michilimackinac, proceeded,
in company with Sieur Joliet, up the Fox River of Green Bay, and,
crossing the portage into the Wisconsin, first entered the Mississippi
in 1673.

Robert de la Salle, to whom the merit of this discovery is generally
attributed, embarked at Rochelle, on his first voyage of discovery, July
14, 1678; reached Quebec in September following, and, proceeding up the
St. Lawrence, laid the foundation of Fort Niagara, in the country of the
Iroquois, late in the fall of that year. In the following year, he
passes up the Niagara River; estimates the height of the falls at six
hundred feet; and proceeding through Lakes Erie, St. Clair, and Huron,
reaches Michilimackinac in August. He then visits the Sault de St.
Marie, and returning to Michilimackinac, continues his voyage to the
south, with a view of striking the Mississippi River; passes into the
lake of the Illinois; touches at Green Bay; and enters the River St.
Joseph's, of Lake Michigan, where he builds a fort, in the country of
the Miamies.

In December of the same year, he crosses the portage between the St.
Joseph's and the Illinois; descends the latter to the lake, and builds a
fort in the midst of the tribes of the Illinois, which he calls
Crevecoeur. Here he makes a stand; sends persons out to explore the
Mississippi, traffics with the Indians, among all of whom he finds
abundance of Indian corn; and returns to Fort Frontenac, on Lake
Ontario, in 1680. He revisits Fort Crevecoeur late in the autumn of the
following year, and finally descends the Illinois, to its junction with
the Mississippi, and thence to the embouchure of the latter in the Gulf
of Mexico, where he arrives on the 7th of April, 1683, and calculates
the latitude between 23° and 24° north.

The Spaniards had previously sought in vain for the mouth of this
stream, and bestowed upon it, in anticipation, the name of Del Rio
Ascondido. La Salle now returns to Quebec, by way of the Lakes, and from
thence to France, where he is well received by the king, who grants him
an outfit of four ships, and two hundred men, to enable him to continue
his discoveries, and found a colony in the newly discovered territories.
He leaves Rochelle in July, 1684, reaches the Bay of St. Louis, which is
fifty leagues south of the Mississippi, in the Gulf of Mexico, in
February following, where he builds a fort, founds a settlement, and is
finally assassinated by one of his own party. The exertions of this
enterprising individual, and the account which was published of his
discoveries by the Chevalier Tonti, who had accompanied him in all his
perilous expeditions, had a greater effect, in the French capital, in
producing a correct estimate of the extent, productions, and importance
of the Canadas, than all that had been done by preceding tourists; and
this may be considered as the true era, when the eyes of politicians and
divines, merchants and speculators, were first strongly turned towards
the boundless forests, the sublime rivers and lakes, the populous Indian
tribes, and the profitable commerce of New France.

Father Louis Hennepin was a missionary of the Franciscan order of
Catholics, who accompanied La Salle on his first voyage from France; and
after the building of Fort Crevecoeur, on the Illinois, was dispatched
in company with three French voyageurs to explore the Mississippi River.

They departed from Fort Crevecoeur on the 29th of February, 1680, and
dropping down the Illinois to its junction with the Mississippi,
followed the latter an indeterminate distance towards the Gulf, not
believed to be great, where they left some memorial of their visit, and
immediately commenced their return. When they had proceeded up the
Mississippi a hundred and fifty leagues above the confluence of the
Illinois, they were taken prisoners by some Indian tribes, and carried
towards its sources nineteen days' journey into the territories of the
Naudowessies and Issati, where they were detained in captivity three or
four months, and then suffered to return. The account which Hennepin
published of his travels and discoveries, served to throw some new light
upon the topography, and the Indian tribes of the Canadas; and modern
geography is indebted to him for the names which he bestowed upon the
Falls of St. Anthony and the River St. Francis.

In 1703, the Baron La Hontan, an unfrocked monk, published, in London,
his voyages to North America, the result of a residence of six years in
the Canadas. La Hontan served as an officer in the French army, and
first went out to Quebec in 1683. During the succeeding four years he
was chiefly stationed at Chambly, Fort Frontenac, Niagara, St. Joseph,
at the foot of Lake Huron, and the Sault de St. Marie.

He arrives at Michilimackinac in 1688, and there first hears of the
assassination of La Salle. In 1689 he visits Green Bay, and passes
through the Fox and Wisconsin Rivers into the Mississippi. So far, his
work appears to be the result of actual observation, and is entitled to
respect; but what he relates of Long River appears wholly incredible,
and can only be regarded as some flight of the imagination, intended to
gratify the public taste for travels, during an age when it had been
highly excited by the extravagant accounts which had been published
respecting the wealth, population, and advantages of Peru, Mexico, the
English and Dutch colonies, New France, the Illinois, and various other
parts of the New World.

To convey some idea of this part of the Baron's work, it will be
sufficient to observe that after travelling ten days above the mouth of
the Wisconsin, he arrives at the mouth of a large stream, which he calls
Long River, and which he ascends eighty-four days successively, during
which he meets with numerous tribes of savages, as the Eskoros,
Essenapes, Pinnokas, Mozemleeks, &c. He is attended a part of the way by
five or six hundred, as an escort; sees at one time two thousand savages
upon the shore; and states the population of the Essenapes at 20,000
souls; but this tribe is still inferior to the Mozemleeks in numbers, in
arts, and in every other prerequisite for a great people. "The Mozemleek
nation," he observes, "is numerous and puissant. The four slaves of
that country informed me that, at the distance of 150 leagues from the
place where I then was, their principal river empties itself into a salt
lake of three hundred leagues in circumference, the mouth of which is
about two leagues broad; that the lower part of that river is adorned
with six noble cities, surrounded with stone, cemented with fat earth;
that the houses of these cities have no roofs, but are open above like a
platform; that, besides the above-mentioned cities, there are an hundred
towns, great and small, round that sort of sea; that the people of that
country make stuffs, copper axes, and several other manufactures, &c."

In 1721, P. De Charlevoix, the historian of New France, was commissioned
by the French Government to make a tour of observation through the
Canadas, and in addition to his topographical and historical account of
New France, published a journal of his voyage through the Lakes. He was
one of the most learned divines of his age, and although strongly
tinctured with the doctrines of fatality, and disposed to view
everything relative to the Indian tribes with the over-zealous eye of a
Catholic missionary, yet his works bear the impress of a strong and
well-cultivated mind, and abound in philosophical reflections, enlarged
views, and accurate deductions; and, notwithstanding the lapse of a
century, he must still be regarded as the most polished and illustrious
traveller of the region. He first landed at Quebec in the spring of
1721, and immediately proceeded up the St. Lawrence to Fort Frontenac
and Niagara, where he corrects the error into which those who preceded
him had fallen, with respect to the height of the cataract. He proceeds
through Lakes Erie, Huron, and Michigan, descends the Illinois and
Mississippi to New Orleans, then recently settled, and embarks for
France. The period of his visit was that, when the Mississippi Scheme
was in the height of experiment, and excited the liveliest interest in
the French metropolis; people were then engaged, in Louisiana, in
exploring every part of the country, under the delusive hope of finding
rich mines of gold and silver; and the remarks he makes upon the
probability of a failure, were shortly justified by the event.

In 1760, Alexander Henry, Esq. visited the upper lakes, in the character
of a trader, and devoted sixteen years to travelling over different
parts of the north-western region of the Canadas and the United States.
The result of his observations upon the topography, Indian tribes, and
natural history of the country, was first published in 1809, and, as a
volume of travels and adventures, is a valuable acquisition to our means
of information. This work abounds in just and sensible reflections upon
scenes, situations, and objects of the most interesting kind, and is
written in a style of the most charming perspicuity and simplicity. He
was the first English traveller of the region.

The date of Carver's travels over those regions is 1766. Carver, whose
travels have been treated with too indiscriminate censure, was descended
from an ancient and respectable English family in Connecticut, and had
served as a captain in the provincial army, which was disbanded after
the treaty of peace of Versailles, of 1763, and united to great personal
courage a persevering and observing mind. By his bravery and admirable
conduct among the powerful tribes of Sioux and Chippewas, he obtained a
high standing among them; and, after being constituted a chief by the
former, received from them a large grant of land, which was not,
however, ratified by the British government. The fate of this
enterprising traveller cannot but excite regret. After having escaped
the massacre of Fort William Henry, on the banks of Lake George, in
1757, and the perils of a long journey through the American wilderness,
he was spared to endure miseries in the heart of the British metropolis,
which he had never encountered in the huts of the American savages, and
perished of want in the city of London, the seat of literature and
opulence!

Between the years 1769 and 1772, Samuel Hearne performed a journey from
Prince of Wales's Fort, in Hudson's Bay, to the Coppermine River of the
Arctic Ocean. McKenkie's voyages to the Frozen and Pacific Oceans were
performed in 1789 and 1793. Pike ascended the Mississippi in 1805 and
1806.

Such is a brief outline of the progress of discovery in the
north-western regions of the United States, by which our sources of
information have been from time to time augmented, and additional light
cast upon the interesting history of our Indian tribes--their numbers
and condition, and other particulars connected with the regions they
inhabit. Still, it cannot be denied that, amidst much sound and useful
information, there has been mingled no inconsiderable proportion that is
deceptive, hypothetical, or false; and, upon the whole, that the
progress of information has not kept pace with the increased importance
which that section of the Union has latterly assumed--with the great
improvements of society--and with the spirit and the enterprise of the
times. A new era has dawned in the moral history of our country, and, no
longer satisfied with mere geographical outlines and boundaries, its
physical productions, its antiquities, and the numerous other traits
which it presents for scientific research, already attract the attention
of a great proportion of the reading community; and it is eagerly
inquired of various sections of it--whose trade, whose agriculture, and
whose population have been long known--what are its indigenous plants,
its zoology, its geology, its mineralogy, &c. Of no part of it, however,
has the paucity of information upon these, and upon other and more
familiar subjects, been so great, as of the extreme north-western
regions of the Union, of the great chain of lakes, and of the sources of
the Mississippi River, which have continued to be the subject of dispute
between geographical writers.

Impressed with the importance of these facts, Governor Cass, of
Michigan, projected, in the fall of 1819, an expedition for exploring
the regions in question, and presented a memorial to the Secretary of
War upon the subject, in which he proposed leaving Detroit the ensuing
spring, in Indian canoes, as being best adapted to the navigation of the
shallow waters of the upper country, and to the numerous portages which
it is necessary to make from stream to stream.

The specific objects of this journey were to obtain a more correct
knowledge of the names, numbers, customs, history, condition, mode of
subsistence, and dispositions of the Indian tribes; to survey the
topography of the country, and collect the materials for an accurate
map; to locate the site and purchase the ground for a garrison at the
foot of Lake Superior; to investigate the subject of the north-western
copper mines, lead mines, and gypsum quarries, and to purchase from the
Indian tribes such tracts as might be necessary to secure to the United
States the ultimate advantages to be derived from them. To accomplish
these objects, it was proposed to attach to the expedition a
topographical engineer, an astronomer, a physician, and a mineralogist
and geologist, and some other scientific observers.

Mr. Calhoun not only approved of the proposed plan, but determined to
enable the governor to carry it into complete effect, by ordering an
escort of soldiers, and enjoining it upon the commandants of the
frontier garrisons, to furnish every aid that the exigencies of the
party might require, either in men, boats, or supplies.

It is only necessary to add, that I was honored with the appointment of
mineralogist and geologist to the expedition, in which capacity I kept
the following journal. In presenting it to the public, it will not be
deemed improper if I acknowledge the obligations which I have incurred
in transcribing it, by availing myself of a free access to the valuable
library of His Excellency De Witt Clinton, and of the taste and skill of
Mr. Henry Inman, in drawing a number of the views which embellish the
work.

HENRY B. SCHOOLCRAFT.

ALBANY, May 14, 1821.

PRELIMINARY DOCUMENTS.

I. ORIGINAL MEMOIR SUGGESTIVE OF THE EXPEDITION.

II. MR. CALHOUN'S LETTER OF SANCTION OF IT.

III. EMPLOYMENT OF A MINERALOGIST AND GEOLOGIST.

IV. POLICY OF GRANTING PERMITS TO TAKE AWAY MINERALS FROM THE INDIAN
COUNTRY.

V. A TOPOGRAPHICAL ENGINEER AND ASTRONOMER ORDERED FROM THE MILITARY
ACADEMY AT WEST POINT.

VI. VII. MILITARY ORDERS OF GENERALS BROWN AND MACOMB.

PRELIMINARY DOCUMENTS.

DETROIT, November 18, 1819.

SIR: The country upon the southern shore of Lake Superior, and upon the
water communication between that Lake and the Mississippi, has been but
little explored, and its natural features are imperfectly known. We have
no correct topographical delineation of it, and the little information
we possess relating to it has been derived from the reports of the
Indian traders.

It has occurred to me that a tour through that country, with a view to
examine the productions of its animal, vegetable, and mineral kingdoms,
to explore its facilities for water communication, to delineate its
natural objects, and to ascertain its present and future probable value,
would not be uninteresting in itself, nor useless to the Government.
Such an expedition would not be wholly unimportant in the public
opinion, and would well accord with that zeal for inquiries of this
nature which has recently marked the administration of the War
Department.

But, however interesting such a tour might be in itself, or however
important in its result, either in a political or geographical point of
view, I should not have ventured to suggest the subject, nor to solicit
your permission to carry it into effect, were it not, in other respects,
intimately connected with the discharge of my official duties.

Mr. Woodbridge, the delegate from this Territory, at my request, takes
charge of this letter, and he is so intimately acquainted with the
subject, and every way so competent to enter into any explanations you
may require, that I shall not be compelled to go as much into detail as,
under other circumstances, might be necessary.

The route which I propose to take, is from here to Michilimackinac, and
from thence, by the Straits of St. Mary's, to the river which contains
the body of copper ore (specimens of which have been transmitted to the
Government), and to the extremity of Lake Superior.

From that point, up the river which forms the water communication
between that lake and the Mississippi, to the latter river, and, by the
way of Prairie du Chien and Green Bay, to Lake Michigan.

The political objects which require attention upon this route are:--

1. A personal examination of the different Indian tribes who occupy the
country; of their moral and social condition; of their feelings towards
the United States; of their numerical strength; and of the various
objects connected with them, of which humanity and sound policy require
that the Government should possess an intimate knowledge. We are very
little acquainted with these Indians, and I indulge the expectation that
such a visit would be productive of beneficial effects.

The extract from the letter of Colonel Leavenworth, herewith inclosed,
and the speech of the Winnebago Indians, transmitted to the War
Department by Mr. Graham, from Rock Island, February 24, 1819, will show
how much we have yet to learn respecting these tribes, which are
comparatively near to us.

2. Another important object is, to procure the extinction of Indian
titles to the land in the vicinity of the Straits of St. Mary's, Prairie
du Chien, Green Bay, and upon the communication between the two latter
places.

I will not trouble you with any observations respecting the necessity of
procuring these cessions. They are the prominent points of the
country--the avenues of communication by which alone it can be
approached.

Two of them--Prairie du Chien and Green Bay--are occupied by a
considerable population, and the Straits of St. Mary's by a few
families. The undefined nature of their rights and duties, and the
uncertain tenure by which they hold their lands, render it important
that some step should be taken by the Government to relieve them. I
think, too, that a cession of territory, with a view to immediate sale
and settlement, would be highly important in the event of any
difficulties with the Indians.

My experience at Indian treaties convinces me that reasonable cessions,
upon proper terms, may at any time be procured. At the treaty recently
concluded at Saginaw, the Indians were willing to cede the country in
the vicinity of Michilimackinac, but I did not feel authorized to treat
with them for it.

Upon this subject, I transmit extracts from the letters of Mr. Boyd and
Colonel Bowyer, by which it will be seen that these gentlemen anticipate
no difficulty in procuring these cessions.

3. Another important object is the examination of the body of copper in
the vicinity of Lake Superior. As early as the year 1800, Mr. Tracy,
then a senator from Connecticut, was dispatched to make a similar
examination. He, however, proceeded no farther than Michilimackinac.
Since then, several attempts have been made, which have proved abortive.
The specimens of virgin copper which have been sent to the seat of
Government have been procured by the Indians, or by the half-breeds,
from a large mass, represented to weigh many tons, which has fallen from
the brow of a hill.

I anticipate no difficulty in reaching the spot, and it may be highly
important to the Government to divide this mass, and to transport it to
the seaboard for naval purposes.

It is also important to examine the neighboring country, which is said
to be rich in its mineral productions.

I should propose that the land in the vicinity of this river be
purchased of the Indians. It could doubtless be done upon reasonable
terms, and the United States could then cause a complete examination of
it to be made.

Such a cession is not unimportant in another point of view. Some persons
have already begun to indulge in speculations upon this subject. The
place is remote, and the means of communicating with it are few. By
timely presents to the Indians, illegal possessions might be gained, and
much injury might be done, much time might elapse, and much difficulty
be experienced, before such trespassers could be removed.

4. To ascertain the views of the Indians in the vicinity of Chicago,
respecting the removal of the Six Nations to that district of country,
an extract from the letter of Mr. Kenzie, sub-agent at Chicago, upon
this subject, will show the situation in which this business stands.

5. To explain to the Indians the views of the Government respecting
their intercourse with the British authorities at Malden, and distinctly
to announce to them that their visits must be discontinued.

It is probable that the annunciation of the new system which you have
directed to be pursued upon this subject, and the explanations connected
with it, can be made with more effect by me than by ordinary messengers.

6. To ascertain the state of the British fur trade within that part of
our jurisdiction. Our information upon this subject is very limited,
while its importance requires that it should be fully known.

In addition to these objects, I think it very important to carry the
flag of the United States into those remote regions, where it has never
been borne by any person in a public station.

The means by which I propose to accomplish this tour are simple and
economical. All that will be required is an ordinary birch canoe, and
permission to employ a competent number of Canadian boatmen. The whole
expense will be confined within narrow limits, and no appropriation will
be necessary to defray it. I only request permission to assign to this
object a small part of the sum apportioned for Indian expenditures at
this place, say from 1,000 to 1,500 dollars.

If, however, the Government should think that a small display of force
might be proper, an additional canoe, to be manned with active soldiers,
and commanded by an intelligent officer, would not increase the expense,
and would give greater effect to any representations which might be made
to the Indians.

An intelligent officer of engineers, to make a correct chart for the
information of the Government, would add to the value of the expedition.

I am not competent to speculate upon the natural history of the country
through which we may pass. Should this object be deemed important, I
request that some person acquainted with zoology, botany, and mineralogy
may be sent to join me.

It is almost useless to add that I do not expect any compensation for my
own services, except the ordinary allowance for negotiating Indian
treaties, should you think proper to direct any to be held, and intrust
the charge of them to me.

I request that you will communicate to me, as early as convenient, your
determination upon this subject, as it will be necessary to prepare a
canoe during the winter, to be ready to enter upon the tour as soon as
the navigation of the Lakes is open, should you think proper to approve
the plan.

Very respectfully, &c.
LEWIS CASS.

Hon. JOHN C. CALHOUN, _Secretary of War_.

II.

DEPARTMENT OF WAR, January 14, 1820.

SIR: I have received your letters of the 18th and 21st November last.
The exploring tour you propose has the sanction of the Government,
provided the expenditure can be made out of the sum allotted your
superintendency for Indian affairs, adding thereto one thousand dollars
for that special purpose.

The objects of this expedition are comprised under the five heads stated
in your letter of the 18th of November, and which you will
consider--with the exception of that part which relates to holding
Indian treaties, upon which you will be fully instructed hereafter--as
forming part of the instructions which may be given you by this
Department.

Should your reconnoissance extend to the western extremity of Lake
Superior, you will ascertain the practicability of a communication
between the Bad, or Burntwood River, which empties into the Lake, and
the Copper, or St. Croix, which empties into the Mississippi, and the
facility they present for a communication with our posts on the St.
Peter's.

The Montreal rivers will also claim your attention, with a view of
establishing, through them, a communication between Green Bay and the
west end of Lake Superior.

To aid you in the accomplishment of these important objects, some
officers of Topographical Engineers will be ordered to join you. Perhaps
Major Long, now here, will be directed to take that route to join the
expedition which he commands up the Missouri. In that event, a person
acquainted with zoology and botany will be selected to accompany him.
Feeling, as I do, great interest in obtaining a correct topographical,
geographical, and military survey of our country, every encouragement,
consistent with the means in my power, will be given by the Department.
To this end, General Macomb will be ordered to afford you every facility
you may require.

I have, &c.,
J. C. CALHOUN.

His Excellency, LEWIS CASS, Detroit, M. T.

III.

DEPARTMENT OF WAR, February 25, 1820.

SIR: Mr. Schoolcraft, a gentleman of science and observation, and
particularly skilled in mineralogy, has applied to me to be permitted to
accompany you on your exploring tour upon Lake Superior. I have directed
him to report to you, for that duty, under the belief that he will be
highly useful to you, as well as serviceable to the Government and the
promotion of science.

You will furnish him with the necessary supplies and accommodation while
employed, and every facility necessary to enable him to obtain a
knowledge of the mineralogy of the country as far as practicable.

I have, &c.,
J. C. CALHOUN.

His Excellency, LEWIS CASS, Detroit.

IV.

DETROIT, March 10, 1820.

SIR: I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the
17th ult., inclosing a copy of a letter from Giles Sanford & Co.

Their statement with respect to the discovery of plaster of Paris upon
one or more of the islands in the vicinity of Michilimackinac, to which
the Indian title has not been extinguished, is correct. Specimens of
this plaster have been brought here, and it is reported, by competent
judges, to be of the best and purest kind. The quantity is stated to be
inexhaustible, and, as vessels generally return empty, or nearly so,
from the upper lakes, it could be transported to any part of Lake Erie
at a trifling expense.

I have great doubts, however, whether it would be proper for the
Government to grant any permission to remove this plaster until the
Indian title to the land is extinguished. The power of granting
permission for that purpose is not given in the "act to regulate trade
and intercourse with the Indian tribes, and to preserve peace on the
frontiers," and appears, in fact, to be inconsistent with its general
spirit and objects. To authorize these gentlemen to negotiate with the
Indians for such a permission, is contrary to the settled policy which
has always been pursued by the United States. I know of no case in which
individuals have been or should be permitted to hold any councils with
the Indians, except to procure the extinction of their title to lands,
claimed under grants from one of the States. The application here must
be to the tribe, because in all their land there is a community of
interest, which cannot be severed or conveyed by the acts of
individuals.

But, independent of precedent, there are strong objections to this
course in principle. If private persons are authorized to open such
negotiations for any object, the Government will find it very difficult
to procure from the Indians any cession of land upon reasonable terms.

Were these islands the property of the United States, I think it would
be very proper to permit the plaster upon them to be removed by every
person making application for that purpose. The supply being
inexhaustible, the agricultural interest would be greatly promoted by
such a measure, and the dependence upon a foreign country for this
important article would be removed.

I therefore take the liberty of recommending that a cession of these
islands be procured by the United States from the Indians. I presume
that this may be done without the payment of any annuity to them, and
without any expense, except, perhaps, a few trifling presents. The
plaster would then be at the disposal of Government, and its free
distribution, under such regulations as might be adopted to prevent
disputes between the adventurers, or a monopoly by any of them, would be
equally proper and beneficial.

Very respectfully, sir,
I have the honor to be
Your most obedient servant,
LEWIS CASS.

Hon. JOHN C. CALHOUN, _Secretary of War_.

Extract of a letter from the Secretary of War to Governor Lewis Cass,
dated

April 5, 1820.

Sir: I have received your letters of the 10th, 11th, and 17th ultimo. In
relation to procuring cessions of land from the Indians, the Government
has decided that it would be inexpedient to obtain any farther
extinguishment of Indian title, except at the Sault de St. Marie, where
it is the wish of the Department, that an inconsiderable cession, not
exceeding ten miles square (unless strong reasons for a greater cession
should present themselves from an actual inspection of the country),
should be acquired upon the most reasonable terms, so as to comprehend
the proposed military position there.

Herewith you will receive a plate of the country about the Sault de St.
Marie, on which is indicated the military site intended to be occupied
for defence. You will also procure the cession of the islands containing
plaster, provided these islands are clearly within the boundary of the
United States, and can be obtained without any considerable expense.

A commission, authorizing you to hold these treaties, will be forwarded
to you in a few days.

As it is desirable to know by what title the people at Green Bay and
Prairie du Chien hold their lands, and whether or not the Indian titles
to those lands were extinguished by the French, at any period subsequent
to their possession of the country (which is the impression of this
Department), you will communicate such information as you possess, or
may obtain, during your tour, on this subject.

In addition to Mr. Schoolcraft, Captain Douglass, of the engineer corps,
has been ordered to join you, and Mr. Whitney (in whose behalf
application has been made for that purpose) may accompany you, if you
can accommodate him. Should he accompany you, he will be allowed the
same compensation made to Mr. Schoolcraft, who will be allowed one
dollar and fifty cents a day for the time actually employed.

VI.

NORTHERN DIVISION.
ADJUTANT-GENERAL'S OFFICE, 10th February, 1819.

(DIVISION ORDER.)

Major-General Macomb, commandant of the 5th military department, will,
without delay, concentrate at Detroit the 5th regiment of Infantry,
excepting the recruits otherwise directed by the general order herewith
transmitted. As soon as the navigation of the Lakes will admit, he will
cause the regiment to be transported to Fort Howard; from thence, by the
way of the Fox and Wisconsin Rivers, to Prairie du Chien, and, after
detaching a sufficient number of companies to garrison Forts Crawford
and Armstrong, the remainder will proceed to the mouth of the River St.
Peter's, where they will establish a post, at which the head-quarters of
the regiment will be located. The regiment, previous to its departure,
will receive the necessary supplies of clothing, provisions, arms, and
ammunition. Immediate application will be made to Brigadier-General
Jesup, Quartermaster-General, for funds necessary to execute the
movements required by this order.

By order of Major-General Brown.

(Signed) JOHN E. WOOL,
_Inspector-General_.

VII.

ASSISTANT ADJUTANT-GENERAL'S OFFICE.
DETROIT, April 13, 1819.

(DEPARTMENT ORDER.)

The season having now arrived when the lakes may be navigated with
safety, a detachment of the 5th regiment, to consist of Major Marston's
and Captain Fowle's companies, under the command of Major Muhlenburg,
will proceed to Green Bay. Surgeon's mate R. M. Byrne, of the 5th
regiment, will accompany the detachment. The assistant deputy
quartermaster-general will furnish the necessary transport, and will
send by the same opportunity two hundred barrels of provisions, which he
will draw from the contractor at this post. The provisions must be
examined and inspected, and properly put up for transportation. Colonel
Leavenworth will, without delay, prepare his regiment to move to the
posts on the Mississippi, agreeably to the Division order of the 10th of
February. The assistant deputy quartermaster-general will furnish the
necessary transportation, to be ready by the first of May next. The
Colonel will make requisition for such stores, ammunition, tools, and
implements as may be required, and he be able to take with him on the
expedition. Particular instructions will be given to the Colonel,
explaining the objects of his expedition.

Mr. Melvin Dorr is appointed Inspector of Provisions, and he will
inspect all provisions intended for the use of the army, before they are
received and issued. Lieutenant Brooks, of the 3d regiment will forward,
by the first detachment, such recruits as he has for the companies of
the 3d regiment at Mackinac.

By order of MAJOR-GENERAL MACOMB.

(Signed) CHESTER ROOT, _A. D. company, and Actg. Assist. Adjt.-General_.

NARRATIVE OF THE EXPEDITION.

CHAPTER I.

The determination to penetrate to the source of the Mississippi, during
the summer months, made an early departure important. I had, while at
Potosi, in Missouri, during the prior month of February, written to Hon.
J. B. Thomas, U. S. S., Washington, to endeavor to secure an appointment
to explore the mineralogy and natural features of the upper Mississippi
River; and as soon as I had published my treatise on the mines and
minerals of Missouri, I proceeded to Washington, and submitted to the
proper officers of the Government, my account of the mineralogical
wealth of the western domains, with a plan for the management of the
public mines. Mr. Calhoun decidedly favored these views; but, foreseeing
the necessity of congressional action on the subject, and the necessary
delays of departmental references, said to me, that he had just received
a memoir from Governor Cass, of Michigan, proposing an expedition to the
source of the Mississippi, to leave Detroit early in the spring, and
offered me the position of mineralogist and geologist on that service.
This agreeing, as it did, with my prior views of exploring the public
domains, I gladly accepted, and immediately returned to the city of New
York to prepare for the journey.

The year 1820 had commenced with severe weather, the Hudson being frozen
hard, as high as West Point, on the 1st of January; and there was a
fall of snow between the 10th and 11th of February, which laid four feet
deep in the streets of New York. March opened with mildness, and every
appearance denoted an early spring, which led me to hasten my movement
north. I left New York on the 5th of March, in the citizens' post-coach,
on sleighs, for Albany, taking the route through Westchester, and over
the Highlands of Putnam and Dutchess; sleeping at Fishkill and
Kinderhook, the first and second nights, and reaching Albany on the
morning of the 7th, a distance of one hundred and sixty miles. This
distance we made in forty hours actual travelling, averaging four miles
per hour, incidental stops included, which is about the rate of
travelling by the trekschuits of Holland,[6] and by sledges over the
frozen grounds of Russia.[7] In crossing the Highlands, some one, in the
change of the stage-sleighs, pilfered a small box of choice minerals
which I set store by; the thief thinking, probably, from the weight and
looks of the box, which had been a banker's, that it was still filled
with coin. We crossed the Hudson from Greenbush, in a boat drawn through
a channel cut in the ice. Snow still laid in the streets of Albany, and
a cold north wind presaged a change of temperature. Next day there was a
hail-storm from the northwest, with rain and sleet, and on the morning
of the 9th, the hail lay six inches deep in the streets. In the evening,
proceeded by stage to the city of Schenectady, a distance of sixteen
miles, across the arenaceous tract of the Pine Plains, by a turnpike,
which forms the shorter line of a triangle, made by the junction of the
Mohawk with the Hudson River. This tract is bounded southerly by the
blue summits of the Helderberg, a prominent spur of the Catskill
Mountain. At Schenectady, we experienced a night of severe cold, and the
next day, at an early hour, I took a seat in the stage-sleigh for Utica,
which we reached at seven in the evening. The distance is ninety-six
miles, which we passed in seventeen hours, going an average rate of five
miles per hour. The road lies up the valley of the Mohawk, a name which
recalls the history of one of the most celebrated members of the
Iroquois, a confederacy of bold and indomitable tribes, who, at an early
day, either pushed their conquests or carried the terror of their arms
from the St. Lawrence to the Mississippi.

[6] Professor F. Hall.

[7] Clarke's Travels.

The winter was still unbroken, and the weather had assumed so
unpropitious an aspect, since leaving New York, that there was no
probability of the navigation of the lakes being open so as to embark at
Buffalo before May. I proceeded seventeen miles west to my father's
residence, in the village of Vernon, to await the development of milder
weather. On the 10th of April, I resumed my journey, taking the western
stage, which had left Utica at two o'clock in the morning. We lodged the
first night at Skeneateles, at the foot of the beautiful and sylvan lake
of the same name, and reached Geneva the next day, at one o'clock in the
afternoon. The roads were now dry and dusty; indeed, the last traces of
snow had been seen in sheltered positions, in passing through Oneida
County, and every appearance in the Ontario country indicated a season
ten days more advanced than the valley of the Mohawk. The field poplar
put forth leaves on the 18th, and apricots were in bloom on the 22d.

At Geneva I remained until the 28th of April, when I again took my seat
in the mail-stage, passing, in the course of the day, the lower margin
of Canandaigua Lake, and through the attractive and tastefully laid-out
village of the same name, and, after continuing the route through a most
fertile country, with a constantly expanding vegetation, reached Avon,
on the banks of the Genesee River. Here we slept. The next morning (the
29th), we crossed this noble stream, and, after a long and fatiguing
day's staging, reached Buffalo in the evening. I was now at an estimated
distance of two hundred and ten miles west of Utica, and three hundred
and twenty-two from Albany. We had found the peach and apple-tree in
blossom, and the vegetation generally in an advanced state, until
reaching within eight or ten miles of Lake Erie, where the force of the
winds, and the bodies of floating ice, evidently had the effect to
retard vegetation. No vessel had yet ventured from the harbor, and
although the steamer Walk-in-the-Water was advertised for the 1st of
May, it was determined to delay her sailing until the 6th. This gave me
time to visit Niagara[8] Falls, and some other places of historical
interest in the neighborhood. This object I executed immediately, taking
a horse and buggy, and keeping down the American shore. The distance is
twenty-two miles, in which the Tonewanda River is crossed by a bridge.
The day was clear and warm, with a light breeze blowing down the river.
I stopped several times to listen for the sound of the Falls, but at the
distance of fifteen, ten, eight, and even five miles, could not
distinguish any; the course of the wind being, indeed, adverse to the
transmission of sound, in that direction, until reaching within some two
or three miles. There is nothing in the character of the country, in the
approach from Buffalo, to apprise the visitor of the difference in its
level and geological stratification, and thus prepare the mind to expect
a cataract. It is different, I afterwards learned, in the approach from
Lewiston, in which quite a mountain must first be ascended, when views
are often had of the most striking parts of the gulf, which has been
excavated by the passage of the Niagara River. It was not easy for me to
erect standards of comparison for the eye to estimate heights. The ear
is at first stunned by the incessant roar, and the eye bewildered by the
general view. I spent two days at the place, and thus became
familiarized with individual traits of the landscape. I found the abyss
at the foot of the Falls to be the best spot for accomplishing that
object. By far the greatest disproportion in the Falls exists between
the height and great width of the falling sheet. The water is most thick
and massy at the Horseshoe Fall, which gives one the most striking and
vivid idea of creative power. In fitting positions in the gulf, with
good incidences of light, the Falls look like a mighty torrent pouring
down from the clouds. At the time of my visit, the wind drove immense
fields of ice out of Lake Erie, with floating trees and other driftwood,
but I never saw any vestiges of these below the Falls. In front of the
column of water falling on the American side, there stood an enormous
pyramid of snow, or congealed spray.

[8] This is an Iroquois word, said to signify the thunder of waters.
The word, as pronounced by the Senecas, is Oniágarah. For additional
information on this subject, see _Notes on the Iroquois_, p. 453. The
etymology of the word has not, however, been fully examined. It is
clear the pronunciation of the word in Goldsmith's day was Niagára.

What has been said by Goldsmith, and repeated by others, respecting the
destructive influence of the Rapids above to ducks and water-fowl is
imaginary--at least, as to the American sheet. So far from it, I saw the
wild ducks swim down the Rapid, as if in pursuit of some article of
food, and then rise and fly out at the brink, and repeat the descent,
as if delighted with the gift of wings, which enabled them to sport over
such frightful precipices without danger. I found among the debris in
the abyss, pieces of hornstone, and crystals of calcareous spar,
radiated quartz, sulphuret of zinc, and sulphate of lime. Its geology is
best explained by observing that the river, in falling over the
precipice of the Niagara ridge into the basin of Lake Ontario, leaps
over horizontal strata of limestone, slate, and red sandstone. In this
respect, nothing can be more simple and plain. It is magnitude alone
that makes the cataract sublime.

On returning to Buffalo, I found the lake rapidly discharging its ice,
which had been recently broken up by a storm of wind; and, while
awaiting the motion of the steamer, I was joined by Captain D. B.
Douglass, Professor of Engineering at West Point, who had been appointed
topographer and astronomer of the expedition. We embarked on the 6th of
May, at nine o'clock in the morning, in the steamer Walk-in-the-Water,
an elegant and conveniently-planned vessel, with a low-pressure Fulton
engine. This boat had been put upon the lake two years before, when it
made a trip to Michilimackinac, and was, indeed, the initial boat in the
history of steam navigation on the Lakes. We embarked at Black Rock, and
it was necessary to use a tow-line, drawn by oxen on the shore, to
enable the boat to ascend the Rapids. This Captain Rodgers, a
gentlemanly man, facetiously termed his hornbreeze. The oxen were
dismissed a short distance before reaching the mouth of Buffalo Creek,
where we reached the level of Lake Erie, five hundred and sixty feet
above the tide-waters of the Hudson River.[9] We were favored with clear
weather, and, a part of the time, with a fair wind. The boat touched at
Erie, at the mouth of Grand River, at Cleveland, and at Portland, in
Sandusky Bay, on coming out of which we passed Cunningham Island, and
the Put-in-Bay Islands, from a harbor in which Perry issued to achieve
his memorable naval victory on the 10th of September, 1813. Passing
through another group of islands, called the Three Sisters, we entered
the mouth of the Detroit River late on the afternoon of the 8th, just as
the light became dim and shadowy. The scale of these waters is
magnificent.

[9] Report of the New York Canal Commissioners.

We had a glimpse of the town and fort of Malden, or Amherstburg, and of
Boisblanc, and Gross Isle, which were the last objects distinctly seen
in our ascent. The boat pushed on her way, under the guidance of good
pilots, although the night was dark, and we reached our destination, and
came to, at the city of Detroit, at twelve o'clock P. M., thus
completing the passage in sixty-two hours.

The next morning, an official from the Executive of the Michigan
Territory came on board with inquiries respecting Captain Douglass and
myself, and we soon found ourselves in a circle where we were received
with marked respect and attention. It was pleasing to behold that this
respect arose, in a great degree, from the high interest which was
manifested, in all classes, for the objects of the expedition, and the
influence which its exploratory labors were expected to have on the
development of the resources and prosperity of the country at large.

General Cass, who was to lead the expedition, received us cordially, and
let us know that we were in season, as some days would still elapse
before the preparations could be completed, and that the canoes in which
we were to travel had not yet reached Detroit. We were also cordially
welcomed by General Macomb, commanding the military district, Major John
Biddle, commanding officer of the fort, and by the citizens generally. I
was now, by the computations, about seven hundred and fifty miles from
my starting-point at New York. We took up our lodgings at the old stone
house occupied by Major Whipple, which, from its prominent position on
the banks of the river, had sustained a random cannonade during the late
war. We were here introduced to Dr. Alexander Wolcot, who filled the
post of physician to the expedition, and to Lieutenant Eneas Mackey,
United States artillery, commanding the escort, Major Robert A. Forsyth,
private secretary of the Executive, and commissary of the expedition,
and superintendent of embarkation; and to James D. Doty and Charles C.
Trowbridge, Esqs., who occupied, respectively, the situations of
official secretary and assistant topographer.

Detroit, the point to which I have now been conducted, is eligibly
situated on the south bank of the straits of the same name, and enjoys
the advantage of a regular plan and spacious streets, which have been
introduced since the burning of the old French town in 1805, not a
building of which, within the walls, was saved. Its main street,
Jefferson Avenue, is elevated about forty feet above the river. The town
consists of about two hundred and fifty houses of all descriptions,
public and private, and has a population of fourteen hundred and
fifty,[10] exclusive of the garrison.

[10] The census of Detroit in 1850 gives it 21,019.

To the historian it is a point of great interest. It was the site of an
Indian village called Teuchsagondie in 1620, the date of the landing of
the Pilgrims at Plymouth. Quebec was founded in 1608; Albany in 1614.
But no regular settlement or occupancy took place here, till the close
of the seventeenth century. In June, 1687, the French took formal
possession of the straits by erecting the arms of France. On the 24th of
July, 1701, M. Cadillac established the first military post. Charlevoix,
who landed here in 1721, found it the site of Fort Pontchartrain.

In 1763 the garrison, being then under British colors, sustained a
notable siege from the confederate Indians under Pontiac. It remained
under English rule till the close of the American Revolution, and was
not finally surrendered to the United States until 1790, the year
following Wayne's treaty at Greenville. Surrendered by Hull in 1812, it
was reoccupied by General Harrison in October, 1813. It received a city
charter 24th October, 1815. Indeed, the prominent civil and military
events of which Detroit has been the theatre, confer on it a just
celebrity, and it is gratifying to behold that to these events it adds
the charm of a beautiful local site and fertile surrounding country. A
cursory view of the map of the United States, will indicate its
importance as a central military and commercial position. Situated on
the great chain of lakes, connecting with the waters of the Ohio,
Mississippi, St. Lawrence, Hudson, and Red River of the North, and
communicating with the Atlantic at so many points, and with a harbor
free of entrance at all times, its business capacities and means of
expansion are very great. And when the natural channels of communication
of the great lake chain shall be improved, it will afford a choice of
markets between the most distant points of the Atlantic seaboard. It is
thus destined to be to the regions of the northwest, what St. Louis is
rapidly becoming to the southwest, the seat of its commerce, the
repository of its wealth, and the grand focus of its moral, political,
and physical energies.[11]

[11] MICHIGAN. This Territory contained, at this period, a population
of 8,896 inhabitants, principally Frenchmen, who were the descendants
of the original settlers of the time of Louis XIV. In 1835, the
population had so increased, chiefly by emigration from the older
States, that the inhabitants applied for admission into the Union.
The act of Congress admitting it was passed in 1836. In 1846, it had
212,267 souls. By the seventh national census, in 1850, it is shown
to have a population of 397,654, entitling it to four representatives
in Congress, with a large fraction. Its resources, its healthful
climate, fertile soil, and very advantageous position on the great
chain of navigable waters of the Upper Lakes, must insure a rapid
development of its means and resources, and place the State, in a few
years, in a high rank among the circle of American States.

CHAPTER II.

Preparations for the expedition--Constitution of the party--Mode of
travel in canoes--Embarkation, and incidents of the journey across
the Lake, and up the River St. Clair--Head winds encountered on
Lake Huron--Point aux barques--Cross Saganaw Bay--Delays in
ascending the Huron coast--Its geology and natural history--Reach
Michilimackinac.

From the moment of our arrival at Detroit, we devoted ourselves, with
intensity, to the preparation necessary for entering the wilderness. We
were to travel, from this point, by a new mode of conveyance, namely,
the Indian bark canoe, called a chimaun, a vehicle not less novel than
curious. Constructed of large and thick sheets of the rind of the betula
papyracea, or northern birch, which are cut in garment-like folds, and
sewed together with the thin fibrous roots of the spruce, on a thin
framework of cedar ribs, and having gunwales, with a sheathing of the
same material, interposed between the bark and ribs. The seams are
carefully gummed with the pitch of the pine. The largest of these canoes
are thirty-six feet in length, and seven feet wide in the centre,
tapering to a point each way. They carry a mast and sail, and are
steered and propelled with light cedar paddles. They are at once light,
so as to be readily carried over the portages, and so strong as to bear
very considerable burdens. Those intended for us, were ordered from the
Chippewas of Lake Huron, near Saganaw Bay. It was necessary to have
mosquito-bars, portfolios, knapsacks, and various contrivances, and to
make baggage of every sort assume the least possible bulk and space. The
public armorer had orders to furnish me suitable hammers and other
minerological apparatus for preparing and packing specimens. The
expedition was quite an event in a remote town, and everybody seemed to
take an interest in the preparation. A fortnight passed away in these
preparations, and in awaiting the arrival of the canoes, respecting
which there was some delay. It was the 24th of May before we were ready
to embark. Besides the gentlemen mentioned as constituting the
travelling party, ten Canadian _voyageurs_ were taken to manage the
canoes, ten United States soldiers to serve as an escort, and ten
Ottowa, Chippewa, and Shawnee Indians to act as hunters, under the
directions of James Riley, an Anglo-American, and Joseph Parks, a
Shawnee captive (at present, head chief of the Shawnee nation), as
interpreters. This canoe contained a chief called Kewaygooshkum, a
sedate and respectable man, who, a year afterwards, played an important
part at the treaty of Chicago.

The grand point of departure and leave-taking, was at Grose Point, at
the foot of Lake St. Clair, a spot nine miles distant. For this point,
horses and carriages, with the numerous friends of Gov. Cass, pushed
forward at an early hour; and there was as much enthusiasm manifested,
by all classes, as if a new world was about to be discovered. I had a
strong wish to witness the mode of canoe travelling, and, declining an
opportunity to join the cavalcade by land, took my seat beside Major
Forsyth in the Governor's canoe. The Canadians immediately struck up one
of their animating canoe songs, the military escort at the same moment
displayed its flag and left the shore, and the auxiliary Indians, fired
with the animation of the scene, handled their paddles briskly, and shot
their canoe rapidly by us. A boat-race was the consequence. The Indians
at first kept their advantage, but the firmer and more enduring nerves
of the Canadians soon began to tell on our speed, and as we finally
passed them, the Indians gracefully yielded the contest. We were two
hours in going to Grose Point, with the wind slightly ahead.

The banks of the River Detroit present continuous settlements, in which
the appearance of large old orchards and windmills, among farm-houses
and smooth cultivated fields, reminds the visitor that the country has
been long settled. And he will not be long in observing, by the
peculiarity of architecture, dress, manners, and language, that the
basis of the population is French. We found our land party had preceded
us, and as the winds were adverse, we encamped in linen tents along the
open shore. The next day the wind increased, blowing quite a gale down
the Lake. I busied myself by making some meteorological and geological
observations. The shores of Lake St. Clair are formed of a fertile
alluvium, resting on drift. There are some heavy boulders of primitive
rock resting on this, which denote a vast field of former drift action
around the shores of these lakes.

The wind abated about eleven o'clock on the morning of the 26th, when
the men commenced loading the canoes. It was twelve before we embarked.
The mode of their embarkation is peculiar. The canoes, when laden, are
hauled out in deep water; the men then catch up the sitters on their
backs, and deposit them in their respective seats; when this was done,
they struck up one of their animated songs, and we glided over the
smooth surface of the lake with rapidity, holding our course parallel
with its shores, generally, until reaching a prominent point of land
near Huron River.[12]

[12] Now called Clinton River, a change made by Act of Legislature,
the frequent repetition of this name by the French having been found
inconvenient in the lake geography. 1853.

From Point Huron we crossed the lake, to reach the central mouth of the
St. Clair River, thereby saving a tedious circuit; by the time we had
half accomplished the transit, we encountered a head wind, which put the
strength of the men severely to the test, and retarded our reaching the
mouth of the river till dark. The River St. Clair has several mouths,
which branch off above through a broad delta, creating large islands.
These channels discharge a vast amount of argillaceous drift and mud,
which has so far filled up the lake itself, that there is anchorage, I
believe, in every part of it; and the principal ship channel is scooped,
by the force of the current, out of a very compact blue clay--the
geological residuum of ancient formations of clay-slates in the upper
country.

The shores are often but a few inches _above_, and often a few inches
_below_ the surface, where they give origin to a growth of reeds, flags,
and other aquatic plants, which remind the traveller of similar
productions at the Balize of the Mississippi. In this nilotic region,
myriads of water-fowls find a favorite resort. To us, however, these
jets of alluvial formation, bearing high grass and rushes were as so
many friendly arms stretched out to shelter us from the wind; but they
were found to be so low and wet, that we were compelled to urge our way
through them, in search of a dry encampment, till within two hours of
midnight. This brought us to the upper end of Lawson's Island, where we
arrived, wet, weary, and cold. We had advanced about twenty-five miles,
having been ten hours, in a cramped posture, in our canoes. This initial
day's journey was calculated to take away the poetry of travel from the
amateurs of our party, and to let us all know, that there were toils in
our way that required to be conquered.

We slept little this night, and waited for daylight and sunrise, as if
the blessed luminary would have an animating effect upon our actual
condition. We again embarked at seven o'clock in the morning. We now
stowed away things with more handiness than at the first embarkation,
and we began, ourselves, to feel a little more at home in this species
of voyaging.

We had three canoes in our little squadron provided with masts and
sails, and a small United States pennant to each, so that the brigade,
when in motion, and led, as it usually was, by the chanting canoemen,
had a formidable and animated appearance.

The River St. Clair is a broad and noble stream, and impressed us as
justifying the highest encomiums bestowed on it by Charlevoix, La
Hontan, and other early French travellers. We ascended it thirty miles,
which brought us to Fort Gratiot, at the foot of the rapid which marks
the outlet of Lake Huron. In this distance, we passed, at separate
places, nine vessels at anchor, being detained by head winds, and
encountered several Chippewa and Ottowa canoes, each of which were
generally occupied by a single family, with their females, blankets,
guns, fishing apparatus, and dogs. They evinced the most friendly
disposition.

In landing at Oak Point,[13] I observed a green snake (coluber æstivus)
in the act of swallowing a frog, which he had succeeded in taking down,
except the extremity of its hind legs. A blow was sufficient to relieve
the frog, which still had sufficient animation to hop towards the river.
The snake I made to pay the forfeit of his life.

[13] Now the site of Algonac.

At Fort Gratiot, we were received by Major Cummins, U. S. A., who
occupied the post with sixty men. The expedition was received with a
salute, which is due to the Governor of a Territory.

Two soldiers who were sickly, were here returned, and five able-bodied
men received to supply their places, thus increasing the aggregate of
the party to forty persons.[14]

[14] To cover any arrangements of this kind, general orders had been
issued by Gen. Macomb, to the commandants of the western posts.

The banks of the River St. Clair are wholly alluvial or diluvial. There
is not a particle of rock in place. One idea presses itself prominently
to notice, in reflecting on the formation of the country. It is the vast
quantum of clay, mixed drift, and boulders, which have evidently been
propelled, by ancient forces, down these straits, and afterwards
arranged themselves according to affinities, or gravitation. At the
precipitous banks between the inlet of Black River and Fort Gratiot,
this action has been so clearly within the erratic block period of De la
Buck, that it has imbedded prostrate forest-trees, and even freshwater
shells, beneath the heavy stratum of sand, resting immediately upon the
fundamental clay beds, upon which the city of Detroit, and indeed the
alluvions of the entire straits rest.[15] We again encountered at this
place, blocks of the primitive or crystalline boulders, which were first
seen at Grosse Point. There are some traces of iron sand along the shore
of this river, the only mineral body, indeed, which has thus rewarded my
examinations.

[15] In the artesian borings for water, undertaken by Mr. Lucius Lyon,
at Detroit, in 1833, these clay beds were found to be one hundred and
fifteen feet deep.--Vide _Historical and Scientific Sketches of
Michigan_, p. 177.

We left our encampment, at Fort Gratiot, at eight o'clock next morning.
A strong and deep rapid is immediately encountered, up which, however,
vessels having a good wind find no difficulty in making their way. On
surmounting this, we found ourselves on the level of Lake Huron. The
lake here bursts upon the view in one of those magnificent landscapes
which are peculiar to this region. Nature has everywhere operated on the
grandest scale. Wide ocean expanses and long lines of shore spread
before the eye, which gazes admiringly on the broad and often brilliant
horizon, and then turns, for something to rest on, along the shore. Long
ridges of gravel, sand, and boulders, meet it here. Beyond and above
this storm-battered beach, are fringes of woods, or banks of clay. The
monotony of travelling by unvaried scenes is relieved by an occasional
song of the boatmen, or an occasional landing--by changes of
forest-trees--of the wind, or flights of the gull, duck, plover, and
other birds; but the traveller, is apt, before evening comes, to fancy
himself very much in the position of a piece of merchandise which is
transported from place to place. Glad were we when night approached, and
the order to encamp was heard. It was estimated we had advanced
thirty-five miles.

On passing along the Huron coast about fifteen miles, a bank of dark
clay is encountered, which has an elevation of thirty or forty feet, and
extends six or eight miles. We soon after came to the White Rock--an
enormous detached mass, or boulder of transition,[16] or
semi-crystalline limestone. It is a noted landmark for _voyageurs_ and
travellers, and an equally celebrated place of offerings by the Indians.
I requested to be landed on it, and detached some specimens.
Geologically, it is a member of the erratic block group, and we must
look for its parent bed at a more westerly point. There is no formation
of limestone, in this quarter, to which it can be referred. It bears
marks of attrition, which shows that it has been rubbed against other
hard bodies; and if transported down the lake on ice, it is necessary to
consider these marks as pre-existing at the era of its removal.

[16] This term has disappeared from the geological vocabulary under
the researches of Sir Roderick J. Murchison, Mr. Lyell, and other
distinguished generalizers.

On embarking in the morning, the wind was slightly ahead, which
continued during the forenoon, changing in the after-part of the day, so
that we were able to hoist sail. About four o'clock the weather became
cloudy and hazy, the wind increasing, at the same time attended with
thunder and lightning. A storm was rapidly gathering, and the lake
became so much agitated that we immediately effected a landing, which
was not done without some difficulty, on a shallow and dangerous shore,
thickly strewn with boulders. We pitched our tents on a small peninsula,
or narrow neck of land, covered with beautiful forest-trees, which was
nearly separated from the main shore. Shortly after our arrival a vessel
hove in sight, and anchored on the same dangerous lee shore. We were in
momently expectation of her being driven from her moorings, but were
happily relieved, the next morning, to observe that she had rode out the
storm.

The lake was still too rough on the following day, and the wind too
high, to permit our embarking. We made an excursion inland. The country
proved low, undulatory, and swampy. The forest consisted of hemlock,
birch, ash, oak, and maple, with several species of mosses, which gave
it a cold, bleak character. The margin of the forest was skirted with
the bulrush, briza canadensis, and other aquatic plants. The whole day
passed, a night, and another day, with nothing but the loud sounding
lake roar in our ears. A heavy bed of the erratic block formation
commences at this point, and continues to Point aux Barques, the eastern
cape of Saganaw Bay.

In one of these displaced masses--a boulder of mica slate, I discovered
well-defined crystals of staurotide. This formed my second mineralogical
acquisition.[17] There were, also, some striking water-worn masses of
granitical and hornblende porphyry.

[17] In passing along this coast in 1824, an Indian picked up, in
shallow water, a small boulder imbedding a mass of native silver.
Breaking off the most prominent mass, he still observed the metal
forming veins in the rock, and brought both specimens to an officer of
the British Indian department at Amherst (Lieut. Lewis S. Johnson),
who presented them to me. This discovery is described in the _Annals
of the New York Lyceum of Natural History_, vol. i. part 8, page 247.

It was the 1st of June before we could leave the spot where we had been
confined. We embarked at six o'clock, the lake being sufficiently
pacific, though not yet settled. But after proceeding about a league, it
again became agitated, and drove us ashore, where we lay without
encamping. Kewaygushkum was requested to send some of his young men in
quest of game. The soldiers and engagees also formed fishing parties, at
a contiguous river; but about three o'clock in the afternoon all the
parties returned completely unsuccessful. There was neither fish nor
game to be had. At the same time the agitation of the lake ceased, the
wind springing up from an opposite quarter, which enabled us to hoist
sail. This put every one in a pleasant humor, and we proceeded along the
coast till evening, and encamped on a small sandy bay, which puts into
the land, immediately beyond the promontory of Point aux Barques--an
estimated distance of twenty-five miles from our starting-point in the
morning.

At the distance of a league before reaching this point, the first
stratum of rock, _in situ_, presents itself. It is a gray friable
sandstone, elevated from ten to twenty feet above the water, but
attaining a greater height in the approach to this noted cape. This
stratum of sandstone rock, which is of a perishable character, is
exposed to receive the shock of the waves of Lake Huron for several
hundred miles from the north and west. It exhibits the force and fury of
the lake action by the numerous cavities which have been worn into it,
at the water's edge, and by the sub-bays which have, in some localities,
been formed in the line of dark opposing cliffs. It was in one of these
sub-bays that we encamped, on a smooth sandy beach, which appears to
have been a favorite encamping ground of the natives. But although we
had met several canoes of Chippewas, on the route between Fort Gratiot
and this point, none were found at the place of our encampment. Such of
them as we approached, on the lake, were invariably in want of food, and
received it with evident marks of gratification.

On going inland, back from our encampment, we found a succession of arid
ridges of sand, which had been evidently produced by the prostrated
sandstone of the coast, which, after comminution by the waves, had been
carried to this position by the winds. These ancient dunes and ridges
were covered sparsely with pitch pines and aspen, and having their
surfaces covered with the uva ursi, pyrola, and smaller shrub-growth
common to arenaceous soils.

On the day following, we ascended along the eastern shores of Saganaw
Bay, a distance of eighteen miles, which brought us to Point aux Chenes.
At this place the guides pointed to a group of islands about midway of
the bay, for which we steered. The calmness of the weather favored the
traverse. We reached and landed on the largest of the group, called
Shawangunk, by the Indians, probably from its southernmost position. I
found it to consist of a dark, compact limestone, imbedding masses of
chalcedony and calcareous spar. I also picked up a detached mass of
argillaceous oxide of iron, and some fragments of striped hornstone.
Anxious to improve the favorable time for effecting the passage, we
pushed on for the opposite western shore, which was safely reached. We
then steered down the bay, skirting a low sandy shore some twenty miles
or more, till entering the open lake, and reaching the River aux Sables.
On entering this river, and after having pitched our camp, we were
visited by a band of Chippewa Indians, with friendly salutations. It
appeared that the arrival of the expedition had been anticipated by
them, they having themselves constructed and furnished the canoes for
it, and being well acquainted with the official position, at Detroit, of
the leader of our party. The principal Chief, the Black Eagle, addressed
a speech to Governor Cass, in which he appropriately recognized these
relations, welcomed him to his village, and recommended the condition of
his people to his notice. The calumet was then smoked in the usual style
of Indian ceremony, the pipe-bearer beginning with persons of first
rank, and handing it in the supposed order of grade, to the lowest
member of the official family. The ceremony was ended by shaking of
hands. All this was done with the ease and dignity of an oriental
sheikh. We had anticipated savages, and savage manners, and armed
ourselves to the teeth, pushing a point with an army official at
Detroit, until we were each provided with a short rifle. But this first
formal council with the sons of the forest, began to open our eyes to
the true character of the Indian manners and diplomacy, in their
intercourse with government officials.

The chiefs, after their departure, sent to our encampment a present of
fresh sturgeon, a species which is caught abundantly in the aux Sables
at this time, for which returns were made of such articles as were most
acceptable to them. Being out of the Bay, we employed the following day
making advances along the Huron coast, an estimated distance of
forty-eight miles. In this distance, we passed Thunder Bay. Encamped on
a low, calcareous shore, bearing cedar and spruce, which the Indians
call Sho-she-ko-naw-be-ko-king, or Flat Rock Point. A few miles after
leaving River aux Sables, the Highlands of Sables present themselves at
a short distance back from the shore. This ridge, which is a landmark
for mariners, runs from southeast to northwest, and is visible as far as
Thunder Bay. The limestone, which is dark and of an earthy fracture, is
very much broken up on the shore, and contains various species of
organic remains. On crossing the Bay, we landed on an island covered
with debris, where we observed one of those imitative, water-worn,
primitive boulders, resembling altars, which are frequently set up by
the Indians as the places of depositing some offering, or out of mere
respect for some local god.

At six o'clock the next morning we were again in our canoes, assiduously
moving along the Huron coast; but, after proceeding about a league, a
storm of wind and rain suddenly arose, driving us from the lake. A few
hours served to restore its calmness, but we had not gone over a couple
of leagues when we were again compelled by the rising wind to take to
the shore, where we were detained the rest of the day, listening to the
capricious murmurs of the lake. This position was directly opposite
Middle Island, a noted anchorage about six miles distant. All night the
waves of the lake were heard. The morning broke without change. Lake
Huron still evinced an angry aspect, threatening to renew the struggle
of yesterday. It was concluded to send the canoes forward, relieved of
our weight, and proceed ourselves on foot along the beach. Walking on
this became difficult on those parts of it where the fossiliferous and
shelly limestone had been broken up and heaped in small fragments. Among
these, we recognized specimens of the cornu-ammonis, and the maderpore,
with some other species. The cedars and brushy growth generally stood so
thick, and grew so closely to this line of debris, that it was
impracticable to take the woods. The toil, however, rewarded us with
some specimens of the organic forms imbedded in the rock, while it
enabled the topographers to secure the data for a very perfect map of
the coast. At ten o'clock in the morning we reached the east cape of
Presque Isle Bay, where the canoes came to take us across to the
peninsula of that name. After completing this, the men landed the canoes
and baggage on the peninsula side, and carried them across the narrow
sandy neck of land; but, on reaching the open lake beyond it, the wind
was found too strongly adverse to permit embarkation. The Canadians have
the not inappropriate term of _degrade_ for this species of detention;
we were here foiled, indeed, in our high hopes of pushing ahead, and
compelled to wait on the naked sands for many weary hours. While thus
detained, the Indians brought in a brown rabbit,[18] a species of lake
tortoise, and some pigeons, being their only fruits of success in
hunting, except a single grouse, or partridge, which had crowned their
efforts since leaving Detroit. It must be borne in mind, however, that
there has been very little opportunity for hunting, that we have had
abundant supplies, and that our mode of travelling is such as to alarm
all game within sound of our track. They have, indeed, brought reports
at several points of seeing the footprints of the deer and black bear,
but they have not had the leisure to pursue them.

[18] This is presumed to be a variety of the American Hare, and may
be distinguished by the following characters: Body eighteen inches
long; color of the hair grayish-brown on the back, grayish-white
beneath. Neck and body rusty and cenerous. Legs pale rust color. Tail
short, brown above, white beneath. Hind legs longest, and callous a
short distance from the paws up. Ears tipped with black. Covering of
the body rusty fur, beneath long coarse hair. Probable weight six
pounds.

At five o'clock, the wind abated so much as to permit embarkation, and
our canoemen hastened forward with the intention of travelling all
night, but at eleven o'clock it freshened to such a degree, and at the
same time became so intensely dark, that we were compelled to land and
encamp. Neither the topography, mineralogy, or any branch of the
physical geography of a country can be ascertained without minute
examination; and this constitutes, indeed, the object of the
investigations, which have been, thus far, so toilsomely pursued against
adverse winds since the commencement of the expedition; but they have
disclosed facts which reveal the true structure and physical history of
this bleak, ungenial coast; this hope serves, every day, to give new
impetus to the voyage.

Another day along the Huron coast. It was now the 6th of June. The
_voyageurs_ began now to manifest great anxiety to reach
Michilimackinac, and had their canoes in the water at a very early hour.
We all participated in this feeling, and saw with pleasure the long
lines of sandy shores, strewed with boulders and pebbles, that were
swiftly passed. We had traced about forty miles of the coast when we
reached the foot of Bois Blanc Island, and pushed over the intervening
arm of the lake to get its south or lee shore. This was a labor of
hazard, as the wind was directly ahead, and drove the waves into the
canoes. When accomplished, we had the shelter of this island for twelve
miles, till reaching its southwest part. We then passed, due north,
between it and Isle Ronde, which brought the wind again ahead. But the
men had not kept this course long, when Michilimackinac, with its
picturesque and imposing features, burst upon our view.

Nothing can present a more refreshing and inspiring landscape. From
that moment the _voyageurs_ appeared to disregard the wind. Striking
into the water with bolder paddles, and opening one of their animating
boat-songs, all thought of past toils was forgotten, and, urged forward
with a new impetus, we entered the handsome little crescent-shaped
harbor at four o'clock. The expedition was received with a salute from
the fort, in command of Capt. B. K. Pierce, U. S. A.,[19] in compliment
to the Governor of the Territory, and we landed amid the congratulations
of the citizens, who pressed forward to welcome us.

[19] Of this officer, who was a brother of Franklin Pierce, President
of the United States, Gardner's _Army Dictionary_ gives the following
notice: Benjamin K. Pierce (N. H.), First Lieutenant Third Artillery,
March, 1812; Adjutant, 1813; Captain, October, 1813; retained May 15,
in artillery; in Fourth Artillery, May 21; Major ten years fa.
service, Oct. 1, 1823; Major First Artillery, June 11, 1836
(Lieutenant-Colonel Eighth Infantry, July 7, 1838, declined); Brevet
Lieutenant-Colonel "for distinguished service in affair at Fort
Drane," Aug. 21, 1836 (Oct. 1836), in which he commanded: Colonel
Regular Creek Mounted Volunteers, in Florida War, Oct. 1836;
Lieutenant-Colonel First Artillery, March 19, 1842. Died April 1,
1850, at New York.

Thus terminated the first part of our journey, after a tedious voyage of
fourteen days, in which we had encountered a series of almost continued
head-winds and foul weather. The distance by ship is usually estimated
at three hundred miles; by following the indentations of the coast, and
entering Saganaw Bay, we found it three hundred and sixty.[20] We found
the Huron coast, to the line of which our observations were limited,
bearing, in its vegetation, indubitable marks of its exposure to the
northern winds. As a section of the lake geology, it is simple and
instructive, exhibiting strata of sandstone and non-crystalline and
fossiliferous limestone in horizontal positions, without the slightest
disturbance in their dip or inclinations. Its mineralogy is scanty,
being nearly confined, so far as observed, to some common silicious
minerals, and traces of argillaceous and magnetic oxides of iron. The
erratic block-stratum or drift, is remarkable, and prepares the mind for
the still heavier accumulations of this kind which are perceived to be
spread over the northern latitudes.[21]

[20] Among the erratic block or drift stratum, I observed on the
south Huron coast singularly striking, round fragments of white
quartz, imbedding red fragments of coarse jasper; a rock, which I
afterwards found in places on the south end of Sugar Island, in St.
Mary's Straits, which lies directly north of the general position,
and may serve as a proof of the course of the drift.

[21] _Vide_ Geo. Report, Appendix.

CHAPTER III.

Nothing can exceed the beauty of this island. It is a mass of calcareous
rock, rising from the bed of Lake Huron, and reaching an elevation of
more than three hundred feet above the water. The waters around are
purity itself. Some of its cliffs shoot up perpendicularly, and tower in
pinnacles like ruinous Gothic steeples. It is cavernous in some places;
and in these caverns, the ancient Indians, like those of India, have
placed their dead. Portions of the beach are level, and adapted to
landing from boats and canoes. The harbor, at its south end, is a little
gem. Vessels anchor in it, and find good holding. The little
old-fashioned French town nestles around it in a very primitive style.
The fort frowns above it, like another Alhambra, its white walls
gleaming in the sun. The whole area of the island is one labyrinth of
curious little glens and valleys. Old green fields appear, in some
spots, which have been formerly cultivated by the Indians. In some of
these there are circles of gathered-up stones, as if the Druids
themselves had dwelt here. The soil, though rough, is fertile, being the
comminuted materials of broken-down limestones. The island was formerly
covered with a dense growth of rock-maples, oaks, ironwood, and other
hard-wood species, and there are still parts of this ancient forest
left, but all the southern limits of it exhibit a young growth. There
are walks and winding paths among its little hills, and precipices of
the most romantic character. And whenever the visitor gets on eminences
overlooking the lake, he is transported with sublime views of a most
illimitable and magnificent water prospect. If the poetic muses are ever
to have a new Parnassus in America, they should inevitably fix on
Michilimackinac. Hygeia, too, should place her temple here, for it has
one of the purest, driest, clearest, and most healthful atmospheres.

We remained encamped upon this lovely island six days, while awaiting
the arrival of supplies and provisions for the journey, or their being
prepared for transportation by hand over the northern portages. Meats,
bread, Indian corn, and flour, had to be put in kegs, or stout linen
bags.

The traders and old citizens said so much about the difficulties and
toils of these northern portages that we did not know but what we,
ourselves, were to be put in bags; but we escaped that process. This
delay gave us the opportunity of more closely examining the island. It
is about three and a half miles long, two in its greatest width, and
nine in circumference. The site of Fort Holmes, the apex, is three
hundred and twelve feet above the lake. The eastern margin consists of
precipitous cliffs, which, in many places, overhang the water, and
furnish a picturesque rocky-fringe, as it were, to the elevated plain.
The whole rock formation is calcareous. It exhibits the effects of a
powerful diluvial action at early periods, as well as the continued
influence of elemental action, still at work. Large portions of the
cliffs have been precipitated upon the beach, where the process of
degradation has been carried on by the waves. A most striking instance
of such precipitations is to be witnessed at the eastern cliff, called
Robinson's Folly, which fell, by its own gravitation, within the period
of tradition. The formation, at this point, formerly overhung the beach,
commanding a fine view of the lake and islands in all directions, in
consequence of which it was occupied with a summer-house, by the
officers of the British garrison, after the abandonment of the old
peninsular fort, about 1780.

The mineralogical features of the island are not without interest. I
examined the large fragments of debris, which are still prominent, and
which exhibit comparatively fresh fractures. The rock contains a portion
of sparry matter, which is arranged in reticulæ, filled with white
carbonate of lime, in such a state of loose disintegration that the
weather soon converts it to the condition of agaric mineral. These
reticulæ are commonly in the slate of calcspar, crystallized in minute
crystals. The stratum on which this loose formation rests is compact and
firm, and agrees in structure with the encrinal limestone of Drummond
Island and the Manitouline chain. But the vesicular stratum, which may
be one hundred and ten or twenty feet thick, has been deposited in such
a condition that it has not had, in some localities, firmness enough
permanently to sustain itself. The consequence is, that the table-land
has caved in, and exhibits singular depressions, or grass-covered,
cup-shaped cavities, which have no visible outlet for the rain-water
that falls in them, unless it percolates through the shelly strata.
Portions of it, subject to this structure, have been pressed off during
changing seasons, by frosts, and carried away by rains, creating that
castellated appearance of pinnacles, which gives so much peculiarity to
the rocky outlines of the island.

The ARCHED ROCK is an isolated mass of self-sustaining rock, on the
eastern facade of cliffs; it offers one of those coincidences of
geological degradation in which the firmer texture of the silicious and
calcareous portions of it have, thus far, resisted decomposition. Its
explanation, is, however, simple: The apex of this geological monument
is on a level, or nearly so, with the Fort Holmes summit. While the
diluvial action, of which the whole island gives striking proofs,
carried away the rest of the reticulated or magnesian limestone, this
singular point, having a firmer texture, resisted its power, and remains
to tell the visitor who gazes at it, that waters have once held dominion
over the highest part of the island.

Before dismissing the subject of the geological phenomena of this
island, it may be observed that it is covered with the erratic block or
drift stratum. Primitive or crystalline pebbles and boulders are found,
but not plentifully, on the surface. They are observed, however, on the
highest summit, and upon the lower plain; one of the best localities of
these boulders, exists on the depressed ground, leading north, in the
approach to Dousman's Farm, where there is a remarkable accumulation of
blocks of granite and hornblende drift boulders. The principal drift of
the island consists of smooth, small, calcareous pebbles, and, at deeper
positions, angular fragments of limestone. Sandstone boulders are not
rare. Over the plain leading from the fort north by way of the Skull
Rock, are spread extensive beds of finely comminuted calcareous gravel,
the particles of which often not exceeding the size of a buck-shot,
which makes one of the most solid and compact natural macadamized roads
of which it is possible to conceive. Carriage wheels on it run as
smoothly, but far more solid, than they could over a plank floor. This
formation appears to be the diluvial residuum or ultimate wash, which
arranged itself agreeably to the laws of its own gravitation, on the
recession of the watery element, to which its comminution is clearly
due. It would be worth transportation, in boxes, for gravelling
ornamental garden-walks. The soil of the island is highly charged with
the calcareous element, and, however barren in appearance, is favorable
to vegetation. Potatoes have been known to be raised in pure beds of
small limestone pebbles, where the seed potatoes had been merely covered
in a slight way, to shield them from the sun, until they had taken root.

The historical reminiscences connected with this island are of an
interesting character. It appears from concurrent testimony, that the
old town on the peninsula was settled about 1671,[22] which was seven
years before the building of Fort Niagara. In that year, Father
Marquette, a French missionary, prevailed on a party of Hurons to locate
themselves at that spot, and it was therefore the first point of
settlement made northwest of Fort Frontenac, on Lake Ontario. It was
probably first garrisoned by La Salle, in 1678, and continued to be the
seat of the fur trade, and in many respects, the metropolis of the
extreme northwest, during the whole period of French domination in the
Canadas. After the fall of Quebec, in 1759, it passed by treaty to the
British government, but much against the wishes of the Indian tribes,
who retained a strong partiality for their early friends, the French.
Pontiac arose at this time, to dispute the English authority in the
northwest, and with confederates projected a series of bold attacks upon
the forts extending from the Ohio to this post. Most of these were
successful, but he was defeated at Detroit, where he commanded in
person, after a series of extraordinary movements. While he was
pressing the siege of the garrison, he enjoined neutrality upon the
French inhabitants, who were nevertheless called on to furnish cattle
and corn for the subsistence of his warriors. It is remarked on good
authority that, for these supplies, he issued evidences of debt. When
General Bradstreet marched to the relief of the fort, with an army of
three thousand men, the spirit and laconic temper of the warrior were at
the same time evinced. He sent a deputation of chiefs to meet the herald
of the British general, at Maumee, with the laconic and symbolic
message: "I stand in the path."

[22] Neither Fort Niagara nor Fort Ponchartrain (at the present site
of Detroit) were then in existence. The foundation of the former was
laid by La Salle, in 1678; the latter had not been erected when La
Hontan passed through the country, in 1688.--_Herriot's Travels
through Canada_, p. 196.

The execution of the plan of attack on Old Fort Mackinac appears to have
been intrusted to Minnawanna, a Chippewa chief, who, in addition to his
own people, was aided by the Sacs. The Ottowas afterwards expressed
displeasure in not having been admitted to a participation in the
attack. The plan was ingeniously laid. The king's birthday, the 4th of
June (1763), having arrived, the Chippewas and Sacs turned out to play,
for a high wager, at ball. Many of the garrison, and the commanding
officer himself, came out to witness the sport; and there was such a
feeling of security that the gates of the fort were left open. To put
the troops more off their guard, the ball had been thrown over the
picket, and when once there, it was natural that it should be followed
by the opposite parties, heated with the contest and eager for victory.
But this artifice was the accomplishment of the plan. The war-whoop was
immediately sounded, and an indiscriminate slaughter commenced. A few
moments of intense anxiety ensued. They were passed by the officers
eagerly listening for the roll of the drum. But they were passed in
disappointment. There was no call of this kind to concentrate
resistance. Panic and slaughter raged in their most fearful forms. None
were spared who were deemed friendly to the English interest but such as
were effectually secreted. Some of the soldiers who escaped the first
onset, were incarcerated in a room, where they were sacrificed to glut
the vengeance of a chief, who did not arrive till the principal work of
slaughter had been accomplished.

This event sealed the fate of the old fort and the town on the
peninsula. The British afterwards took possession of the island, which
had served to give name to the peninsular fort. The town was gradually
removed, by pulling down the buildings, and transporting the timber to
the island, till there was not a building or fixture left; and the site
is now as silent and deserted as if it had never been the scene of an
active resident population.

The Island of Michilimackinac appears to have been occupied first as a
military position by the British, about 1780, say some seven years after
the massacre of the garrison of the old peninsular fort of the same
name.

Wherever Michilimackinac is mentioned in the missionary letters or
history of this period, it is the ancient fort, on the apex of the
Michigan peninsula, that is alluded to.

The present town is pleasantly situated around a little bay that affords
good clay anchorage and a protection from west and north winds. It has a
very antique and foreign look, and most of the inhabitants are, indeed,
of the Canadian type of the French. The French language is chiefly
spoken. It consists of about one hundred and fifty houses and some four
hundred and fifty permanent inhabitants.

It is the seat of justice for the most northerly county of Michigan.
According to the observation of Lieut. Evelith, the island lies in north
latitude 45° 54´, which is only twenty-three minutes north of Montreal,
as stated by Prof. Silliman.[23] It is in west longitude 7° 10´ from
Washington.

[23] Tour from Hartford to Quebec, p. 341.

Col. Croghan's attempt to take the island, during the late war, was most
unfortunate. He failed from a double spirit of dissension in his own
forces, being at odds with the commanding officer of the fleet, and at
sword's points with his second in command, Major Holmes. After entering
the St. Mary's, and taking and burning the old post of St. Joseph's,
where nobody resisted, instead of sailing direct to Mackinac, a
marauding expedition was sent up this river to St. Mary's, and when the
fleet and troops finally reached Mackinac, instead of landing at the
town, under the panic of the inhabitants, it sailed about for several
days. In the mean time the island filled with Indians from the
surrounding shores.

Fort "Mackina" is eligibly situated on a cliff overlooking the town and
harbor, and is garrisoned by a company of artillery. The ruin of Fort
Holmes, formerly Fort George, occupies the apex of the island, and has
been dismantled since the British evacuated it in 1815.[24]

[24] Tour from Hartford to Quebec, p. 341.

It happened that the British authorities on the island of St. Joseph,
got intelligence of the declaration of war, in 1812, through Canada,
before the American commander at Mackinac heard of it. Mustering their
forces with such volunteers, militia, and Indians as could be hastily
got together, they proceeded in boats to the back of the island, where
they secretly landed at night with some artillery, and by daylight the
next morning got the latter in place on the summit of Fort Holmes, which
completely commanded the lower fort, when they sent a summons of
surrender, which Captain Hanks, the American commanding officer, had no
option but to obey.

Colonel Croghan, the hero of Sandusky, attempted to regain possession of
it, in 1814, with a competent force, and after several demonstrations of
his fleet about the island, by which time was lost and panic in the
enemy allayed, he landed on the northern part of it, which is depressed,
and his army marched through thick woods, most favorable for the
operations of the Indians, to the open grounds of Dousman's Farm, where
the army was met by Colonel McDouall, who was eligibly posted on an
eminence with but few regular troops, but a heavy force of Indian
auxiliaries and the village militia. Major Holmes, who gallantly led the
attack, swinging his sword, was killed at a critical moment, and the
troops retreated before Colonel Croghan could reach the field with a
reinforcement. Thus ended this affair.

My attention was directed to the plaster stated to exist on the St.
Martin Islands. These islands compose a small group lying about nine or
ten miles north-northeast of Michilimackinac. Captain Knapp, of the
revenue service, had been requested to take me to the spot with the
revenue cutter under his command. I was accompanied by Captain Douglass,
of the expedition, and by Lieutenant John Pierce, U. S. A., stationed at
the fort.

The gypsum exists in a moist soil, not greatly elevated, during certain
winds above the lake. Pits had been dug by persons visiting the locality
for commercial purposes. It occurs in granular lumps of a gray color, as
also in foliated and fibrous masses, white, gray, chestnut color, or
sometimes red. No difficulty was encountered in procuring as many
specimens as were required. This group of islands is noticeable, also,
for the large boulder masses of hornblende and granite rock, which are
found imbedded in, or lying on the surface, along with fragments of
breccia, quartz, &c. This drift is more abundant, on all the islands I
have seen, as we approach the north shores of Lake Huron. Having
completed the examination of these islands, we returned to the harbor
after an agreeable excursion.

To observe the structure and character of the Island of Michilimackinac,
I determined to walk entirely around it, following the beach at the foot
of the cliffs. This, although a difficult task, from brush and debris,
became a practicable one, except on the north and northwest borders,
where there was, for limited spaces, no margin of debris, at which
points it became necessary to wade in the water at the base of low
precipitous rocks. In addition to the reticulated masses of limestone
covered with calcspar from the fallen cliffs, the search disclosed small
tabular pieces of minutely crystallized quartz and angular masses of a
kind of striped hornstone, gray and lead colored, which had been
liberated from similar positions in the cliffs. On passing the west
margin of the island, I observed a bed of a species of light-blue clay,
which is stated to part with its coloring matter in baking it, becoming
white.

While the British possessed the island, they attempted to procure water
by digging two wells at the site of Fort George (now Holmes), but were
induced to relinquish the work without success, at the depth of about
one hundred feet. Among the fragments of rock thrown out, are
impressions of bivalve and univalve shells, with an impression
resembling the head of a trilobite. These are generally in the condition
of chalcedony, covered with very minute crystals of quartz. I also
discovered a drift specimen of brown oxide of iron, on the north
quarter. This sketch embraces all that is important in its mineralogical
character.

This island appears to have been occupied by the Indians, from an early
period. Human bones have been discovered at more than one point, in the
cavernous structure of the island; but no place has been so much
celebrated for disclosures of this kind, as the SKULL CAVE. This cave
has a prominent entrance, shaded by a few trees, and appears to have
been once devoted to the offices of a charnel-house by the Indians. It
is not mentioned at all, however, by writers, till 1763, in the month of
June of which year the fort of old Mackinac on the peninsula, was
trea-cherously taken by the Sac and Chippewa Indians. An extensive and
threatening confederation of the western Indians had then been matured,
and a large body of armed warriors was then encamped around the walls of
Detroit, under the leadership of Pontiac, who held the garrison in close
siege day and night. The surrender of Canada to Great Britain, which had
followed the victory of General Wolfe at Quebec, was distasteful to
these Indians, and they attempted the mad project of driving back beyond
the Alleghanies the English race; making a simultaneous assault upon all
the military posts west of that great line of demarcation, and preaching
and dealing out vengeance to all who had English blood in their veins.
Alexander Henry, a native of Albany,[25] was one of those enterprising
men who had pushed his fortunes West, with an adventure of merchandise,
on the first exchange of posts, and he was singled out for destruction,
as soon as the fort was taken. He had taken refuge in the house of a
Frenchman named Longlade, where he was concealed in a garret by a Pawnee
slave, and where he hid himself under a heap of birch-bark buckets, such
as are employed in the Indian country, in the spring season, in carrying
the sap of the sugar-maple. But this temporary reprieve from the Indian
knife seemed only the prelude to a series of hairbreadth escapes, which
impressed him as the direct interposition of Providence. At length, when
the scenes of blood and intoxication began to abate a little, an old
Indian friend of his, called Wawetum, who had once pledged his
friendship, but who had been absent during the massacre, sought him out,
and having reclaimed him by presents, in a formal council, took him into
his canoe and conducted the spared witness of these atrocities three
leagues across the waters of Lake Huron in safety to this island.

[25] _Vide_ Henry's Travels, New York, 1809, 1 vol. 8vo.

To this place they were accompanied by the actors in this tragedy to the
number of three hundred and fifty fighting men,[26] and he would now,
under the protection of Wawetum, have been safe from immediate peril,
but that in a few days a prize of two canoes of merchandise in the hands
of English traders was made, amongst which was a large quantity of
liquor. Hereupon, Wawetum, foreseeing another carousal, and always
fearful of his friend, requested him to go up with him to the mountain
part of the island. Having ascended it, he led him to this cave, and
recommended him to abide here in concealment until the debauch was over,
when he promised to visit him.

[26] Henry, p. 109.

Breaking some branches at its mouth for a bed, he then sought its
recesses, and spreading his blanket around, laid down and slept till
morning. Daylight revealed to him the fact that he had been reposing on
dry human bones, and that the cave had anciently been devoted by the
Indians as a sepulchre. On announcing this fact to his deliverer, two
days afterward, when he came to seek him, Wawetum expressed his
ignorance of it, and a party of the Indians, who came to examine it in
consequence of the announcement, also concurred in declaring that they
had no tradition on the subject. They conjectured that the bones were
either due to the period when the sea covered the earth--which is a
common belief with them--or to the period of the Huron occupancy of this
island, after that tribe were defeated by the Iroquois, in the St.
Lawrence valley.

So much for tradition.

This island has been long known as a prominent point in the fur trade.
But of this I am not prepared to speak. It was selected by Mr. J. J.
Astor, in 1816, as the central point of outfit for his clerks and agents
in this region; and the warehouses erected for their accommodation
constitute prominent features in its modern architecture. The capital
annually invested in this business is understood to be about three
hundred thousand dollars. This trade was deemed an object of the highest
consequence from the first settlement of Canada, but it was not till
1766, agreeably to Sir Alexander Mackenzie, that it commenced from
Michilimackinac.[27] The number of furred animals taken in a single
year, the same author states to be one hundred and eighty-two thousand
two hundred; of which number, the astonishing proportion of one hundred
and six thousand were beavers.[28] Estimating each skin at but one
pound, and the foreign market price at four dollars per pound, which are
both much below the average at this era, this item of beaver alone would
exceed by more than one-third the whole capital employed, taking the
data before mentioned, and leave the seventy-six thousand smaller furred
animals to be put on the profit side. No wonder that acts of perfidy
arose between rivals, such as the shooting of Mr. Waden at his own
dinner-table, where he was entertaining an opponent or copartner in the
trade; or the foul assassination of Owen Keveny on the Rainy Lakes.[29]
Indeed, the fur trade has for a long period been more productive, if we
are to rely on statements, than the richest silver mines of Mexico or
Peru.

[27] Mackenzie's Voyages, Hist. Fur Trade, vii.

[28] Mackenzie, xxiv.

[29] Report of the Trials of De Reinhard, &c. Montreal, 1818.

Society at Michilimackinac consists of so many diverse elements, which
impart their hue to it, that it is not easy for a passing traveller to
form any just estimate of it. The Indian, with his plumes, and gay and
easy costume, always imparts an oriental air to it. To this, the
Canadian, gay, thoughtless, ever bent on the present, and caring nothing
for to-morrow, adds another phase. The trader, or interior clerk, who
takes his outfit of goods to the Indians, and spends eleven months of
the year in toil, and want, and petty traffic, appears to dissipate his
means with a sailor-like improvidence in a few weeks, and then returns
to his forest wanderings; and boiled corn, pork, and wild rice again
supply his wants. There is in these periodical resorts to the central
quarters of the Fur Company, much to remind one of the old feudal
manners, in which there is proud hospitality and a show of lordliness on
the one side, and gay obsequiousness and cringing dependence on the
other, at least till the annual bargains for the trade are closed.

We were informed that there is neither school, preaching, a physician
(other than at the garrison), nor an attorney, in the place. There are,
however, courts of law, a post-office, and a jail, and one or more
justices of the peace.

There is a fish market every morning, where may be had the trout--two
species--and the white fish, the former of which are caught with hooks
in deep water, and the latter in gill nets. Occasionally, other species
appear, but the trout and white fish, which is highly esteemed, are
staples, and may be relied on in the shore market daily; whole
canoe-loads of them are brought in.

The name of this island is said to signify a great turtle, to which it
has a fancied resemblance, when viewed from a distance. Mikenok, and
not Mackenok, is, however, the name for a tortoise. The term, as
pronounced by the Indians, is Michinemockinokong, signifying place of
the Great Michinamockinocks, or rock-spirits. Of this word, _Mich_ is
from _Michau_ (adjective-animate), great. The term _mackinok_, in the
Algonquin mythology, denotes in the singular, a species of spirits,
called turtle spirits, or large fairies, who are thought to frequent its
mysterious cliffs and glens. The plural of this word, which is an
animate plural, is _ong_, which is the ordinary form of all nouns ending
in the vowel _o_. When the French came to write this, they cast away the
Indian local in _ong_, changed the sound of _n_ to _l_, and gave the
force _mack_ and _nack_, to _mök_ and _nök_. The vowel _e_, after the
first syllable, is merely a connective in the Indian, and which is
represented in the French orthography in this word by _i_. The ordinary
interpretation of great turtle is, therefore, not widely amiss; but in
its true meaning, the term enters more deeply into the Indian mythology
than is conjectured. The island was deemed, in a peculiar sense, the
residence of spirits during all its earlier ages. Its cliffs, and dense
and dark groves of maples, beech, and ironwood, cast fearful shadows;
and it was landed on by them in fearfulness, and regarded far and near
as the _Sacred Island_. Its apex is, indeed, the true Indian Olympus of
the tribes, whose superstitions and mythology peopled it by gods, or
monitos.

Since our arrival here, there has been a great number of Indians of the
Chippewa and Ottowa tribes encamped near the town. The beach of the lake
has been constantly lined with Indian wigwams and bark canoes. These
tribes are generally well dressed in their own costume, which is light
and artistic, and exhibit physiognomies with more regularity of features
and mildness of expression than it is common to find among them. This is
probably attributable to a greater intermixture of blood in this
vicinity. They resort to the island, at this season, for the purpose of
exchanging their furs, maple-sugar, mats, and small manufactures. Among
the latter are various articles of ornament, made by the females, from
the fine white deer skin, or yellow birch bark, embroidered with colored
porcupine quills. The floor mats, made from rushes, are generally more
or less figured. Mockasins, miniature sugarboxes, called mo-cocks,
shot-pouches, and a kind of pin and needleholders, or housewives, are
elaborately beaded. But nothing exceeds in value the largest
merchantable mockocks of sugar, which are brought in for sale. They
receive for this article six cents per pound, in merchandise, and the
amount made in a season, by a single family, is sometimes fifteen
hundred pounds. The Ottowas of L'Arbre Croche are estimated at one
thousand souls, which, divided by five, would give two hundred families;
and by admitting each family to manufacture but two hundred pounds per
annum, would give a total of forty thousand pounds; and there are
probably as many Chippewas within the basins of Lakes Huron and
Michigan. This item alone shows the importance of the Indian trade,
distinct from the question of furs.

During the time we remained on this island, the atmosphere denoted a
mean temperature of 55° Fahrenheit. The changes are often sudden and
great. The island is subject to be enveloped in fogs, which frequently
rise rapidly. These fogs are sometimes so dense, as to obscure
completely objects at but a short distance. I visited Round Island one
day with Lieut. Mackay,[30] and we were both engaged in taking views of
the fort and town of Michilimackinac,[31] when one of these dense fogs
came on, and spread itself with such rapidity, that we were compelled to
relinquish our designs unfinished, and it was not without difficulty
that we could make our way across the narrow channel, and return to the
island. This fact enabled me to realize what the old travellers of the
region have affirmed on this topic.

[30] Lieut. Eneas Mackay. This officer, after the return from this
expedition, went through the regular grades of promotion in the army,
and had at the period of his death, which took place in 1850, at St.
Louis, Missouri, reached the brevet rank of colonel.

[31] For the view from this point, see Information respecting the
History, Condition, and Prospects of the Indian Tribes of the United
States, vol. iv. Plate 42.

We were received during our visit here in the most hospitable manner, as
well as with official courtesy, by Capt. B. K. Pierce, the commanding
officer, Major Puthuff, the Indian agent, and by the active and
intelligent agents of Mr. John Jacob Astor, the great fiscal head of the
Fur Trade in this quarter.

CHAPTER IV.

Proceed down the north shore of Lake Huron to the entrance of the
Straits of St. Mary's--Character of the shores, and
incidents--Ascend the river to Sault de Ste. Marie--Hostilities
encountered there--Intrepidity of General Cass.

Having spent six days on the island, rambling about it, and making
ourselves as well acquainted with its features and inhabitants as
possible, we felt quite recruited and cheered up, after the tedious
delays along the southern shores of Lake Huron. And we all felt the
better prepared for plunging deeper into the northwestern forest. Before
venturing into the stronghold of the Chippewas, whose territories extend
around Lake Superior, it was deemed prudent to take along an additional
military force as far as Sault de Ste. Marie. But five or six years had
then passed since this large tribe had been arrayed in hostilities
against the United States (in the war of 1814), and they were yet
smarting under the wounds and losses which they had received at
Brownstown and the River Thames, where they had lost some prominent men.
Generals Brown and Macomb,[32] when making a reconnoissance, with their
respective staffs, a couple of years before, had been fired on in
visiting Gros Cape, at the foot of Lake Superior, and although no one
was killed on that occasion, the circumstance was sufficient to indicate
their feeling.

[32] The following are the official data of this distinguished
officer:--

Alexander Macomb, Jr., born April 3, 1782, Detroit, N. Y.; Cornet
Cavalry, January 10, 1799; Second Lieutenant, February, 1801;
retained, April, 1802, in Second Infantry; First Lieutenant of
Engineers, October, 1802; Captain, June, 1805; Major of Engineers,
February 23, 1808; Lieutenant-Colonel, July 23, 1810; Acting
Adjutant-General of the Army, April 28, 1812; Colonel Third
Artillery, July 6, 1812; Brigadier-General, January 24, 1814; Brevet
Major-General, "for distinguished and gallant conduct in defeating
the enemy at Plattsburg, September 11, 1814" (October 1, 1814);
received the "thanks of Congress" of November 3, 1814, "for his
gallantry and good conduct in defeating the enemy at Plattsburg, on
the 11th of September, repelling with 1,500 men, aided by a body of
militia and volunteers from New York and Vermont, a British veteran
army, greatly superior in numbers," with the presentation of a
_gold medal_, "emblematical of this triumph;" retained, April 8,
1815; retained, May 21, as Colonel and Principal Engineer, with
Brevets Major-General and General-in-Chief of the Army, May 24,
1828; commanded the army of Florida 1836; died June 25, 1841, at
his head-quarters, Washington City.--_Gardner's Army Dictionary._

This additional force was placed under the command of Lieutenant John S.
Pierce, U. S. A., a brother of the commanding officer,[33] and of
Franklin Pierce, President of the United States. It consisted of
twenty-two men, with a twelve-oared barge. The whole expedition, now
numbering sixty-four persons, embarked at ten o'clock on the 15th, with
a fair wind, for our first destination, at Detour, being the west cape
of the Straits of St. Mary's. The distance is estimated at forty miles,
along a very intricate, masked shore of islands, called Chenos. The
breeze carried us at the rate of five miles per hour. The first traverse
is an arm of the Lake, three leagues across, over which we passed
swimmingly. This traverse is broken near its eastern terminus by Goose
Island, the Nekuhmenis (literally Brant Island) of the Chippewas--a
noted place of encampment for traders. We did not, however, touch at it.
A couple of miles beyond this brought us to Outard Point, where the men
rested a few moments on their oars and paddles. This point forms the
commencement of those intricate channels which constitute the Chenos
group. Our steersman gave them, however, a wide berth, and did not
approach near the shore till it began to be time to look out for the
mouth of the St. Mary's. After passing Point St. Vitel, a distance of
about thirty miles, the guides led into a sandy bay, under the
impression that we had reached the west cape of the St. Mary's; but in
this we were deceived. While landing here a few moments, in a deep bay,
the animal called Kaug by the Chippewas (a porcupine), was discovered
and killed by one of the men, called Baptiste, by a blow from a hatchet.
Buffon gives two engravings of this animal, as found in Canada, under
separate names; but it is apprehended that he has been misled by the
same animal seen in its summer and winter dress. To the Indian, this
animal is valuable for its quills, which are dyed of bright colors, to
ornament their dresses, moccasons, shot-pouches, and other choice
fabrics of deer skin, or birch bark. This animal has four claws on the
fore paw, and five on the hinder ones. It has small ears hid in the
hair, and a bushy tail, with coarse black and white hair. The specimen
killed would weigh eight pounds.

[33] John Sullivan Pierce (N. H., brother to Colonel Benjamin K.
Pierce), Third Lieutenant Third Artillery, April 5, and Second
Lieutenant, May, 1814; retained, May, 1815, in Artillery; First
Lieutenant, April 1818; resigned February 1, 1823.--_Gardner's Army
Dictionary._

Soon after coming out from this indentation of the lake, we came in
sight of Point Detour, on turning which, from E. to N., we found no
longer use for sails. Mackenzie places this point in north latitude 45°
54´.

The geology of this coast appears manifest. Secondary compact limestone
appears in place, in low situations, on the reef of Outard Island and
Point, and in the approach to Point Detour. A ridge of calcareous
highlands appears on the mainland east of Michilimackinac, stretching
off towards Sault de Ste. Marie, in a northeast direction. This ridge
appears to belong to a low mountain chain, of which the Island of
Michilimackinac may be deemed as one of the geological links. Just
before turning, we passed a very heavy angular block of limestone, much
covered with moss, which could not have been far removed, in the drift
era, from its parent bed. The largest angle of this stone, which I have
since examined, must be eight or ten feet. This block is of the
ortho-cerite stratum of Drummond Island. The shores are heavily charged
with various members of the boulder drift, with a fringe beyond them of
spruce and firs, giving one the idea of a cold, exposed, and most
unfavorable coast. Turning the Point of Detour, we ascended the strait a
few miles, and encamped on its west shore, off Frying-pan Island, at a
point directly opposite the British post of Drummond Island, which we
could not perceive, but the direction of which was clearly denoted by
the sound of the evening bugles.

The entrance into this strait forms a magnificent scene of waters and
islands, of which a map conveys but a faint conception. The straits here
appeared to be illimitable, we seemed to be in a world of waters. It is
stated to be thirty miles across to Point Thessalon. The large group of
the Manatouline Islands, stretching transversely through Lake Huron,
terminates with the isle Drummond--a name bestowed in compliment to the
bold leader, Col. Drummond, who led the night storming party, and was
blown up on the bastion of Fort Erie, in 1813. This station was first
occupied on the withdrawal of the British troops from Mackinac, in 1815.
This day's trip gave us a favorable idea of canoe travelling. It also
gave us an exalted idea of the gigantic system of these lake waters, and
their connecting straits. We had never done gazing at the prospect
before us, after turning the Detour, and did not retire from our camp
fires early. The next morning we embarked at five o'clock, a light
dreamy mist hanging over the waters. When this cleared away, we descried
the ruined chimneys and buildings of St. Joseph, the abandoned British
post burned by Col. Croghan, in 1814.[34] The day turned out a fine one,
and we proceeded up the straits with pleasurable feelings, excited by
the noble and novel views of scenery continually before us. Keeping the
west side of a high limestone island called Isle a la Crosse, we then
entered a sheet of water called Lac Vaseau, or Muddy Lake. We had
proceeded northwardly perhaps twenty miles, when we encountered another
of those large islands for which these straits are remarkable, called
Nebeesh,[35] or Sailor's Encampment Island. Our guides held up on its
western side, which soon brought us to the first rapids, and the
commencement of St. Mary's River. A formation of sandstone is here
observed in the bed of the stream. The waters are swift and shallow, and
the men encountered quite a struggle in the ascent, and so much injured
one of our canoes that it became necessary to unlade and mend it. In the
mean time, the atmosphere put on a threatening aspect, with heavy peals
of thunder, but no rain followed till we again re-embarked and proceeded
five or six miles, when a shower fell. It did not, however, compel us to
land, and by six o'clock in the afternoon, the sky again became clear.
We had now ascended the strait and river so far, that it became certain
we could reach our destination before night, and the men worked with the
greater alacrity. At eight o'clock we had surmounted the second rapid,
called the Little Rapid, Nebeetung of the Indians, where we encountered
a swift current. We were now within two miles of our destination. The
whole river is here embodied before the eye, and is a mile or
three-fourths of a mile wide, and the two separate villages on the
British and American shores began to reveal themselves to view, with the
cataract of the Sault de Ste. Marie in the distance; and a beautiful
forest of elms, oaks, and maples on either hand. We ascended with our
flags flying, our little squadron being spread out in order, and the
Canadian boatmen raising one of their enlivening songs. Long before
reaching the place, a large throng of Indians had collected on the
beach, who, as we put in towards the shore, fired a salute, and stood
ready to greet us with their customary _bosho_.[36] We landed in front
of the old Nolan house,[37] the ancient headquarters of the Northwest
Company; and immediately formed our encampment on the wide green,
extending along the river. Daylight in this latitude is protracted, and
although we had ascended a computed distance of forty-five miles, and
had had the mishap to break a canoe in the Nebeesh, there was abundant
light to fix our encampment properly. Lieut. Pierce encamped his men on
our extreme right. Leaving an interval, Lieut. Mackay's escort came
next, and our tents formed the northern line of his encampment, nearest
to the Indians. The latter occupied a high plateau, in plain view,
several hundred yards west, with an intervening gulley, and a plain,
well-beat footpath. We had, in case of difficulty, thirty-four muskets,
Pierce's command included, in addition to which, each of the savans, or
Governor's mess, were armed with a short rifle. Our line may have looked
offensively demonstrative to the Chippewas, who regarded it, from their
ancient eminence, with unfriendly feelings. These particulars are given
from the perilous position we were brought into next day.

[34] This fort was first erected by the British in 1795, the year
before Michilimackinac was evacuated under Wayne's treaty with the
Indians.

[35] From Nebee, water; hence Nebeesh, rapid water, or strong water,
the name of the rapids which connect the straits with the River St.
Mary's. This word is the _derogative_ form of the Chippewa noun.

[36] From the French _bon jour_.

[37] The present site of Fort Brady.

Meantime, we passed a quiet night in our tents, where the deep sound of
the Falls fell on the wakeful ear, interspersed with the distant
monotonous thump of the Indian täwäegon. It required but little
observation, in the morning, to explore the village of St. Mary's. It
consisted of some fifteen or twenty buildings of all sorts, occupied by
descendants of the original French settlers, all of whom drew their
living from the fur trade. The principal buildings and outhouses were
those of Mr. John Johnston, and the group formerly occupied by the
Northwest Company. Most of the French habitations stood in the midst of
picketed lots. There were about forty or fifty lodges, or two hundred
Chippewas, fifty or sixty of whom were warriors. But, although this
place was originally occupied as a missionary centre, by the Roman
Catholic missionaries of New France, about the middle of the seventeenth
century, no trace of the ancient church could be seen, unless it was in
an old consecrated graveyard, which has continued to be used for
interments. Mr. Johnston, the principal inhabitant, is a native of the
County of Antrim, Ireland, where his connections are persons of rank. He
is a polite, intelligent, and well-bred man, from a manifestly refined
circle; who, soon after the close of the American Revolution, settled
here, and married the daughter of a distinguished Indian chief.[38]
Although now absent on a visit to Europe, his family received us with
marked urbanity and hospitality, and invited the gentlemen composing the
travelling family of Governor Cass to take all our meals with them.
Everything at this mansion was done with ceremonious attention to the
highest rules of English social life; Miss Jane, the eldest daughter,
who had received her education in Ireland, presiding.

[38] INTER-EUROPEAN AMALGAMATION.--John Johnston was a native of the
north of Ireland, where his family possessed an estate called
"Craige," near the celebrated Giant's Causeway. He came to this
country during the first Presidential term of Washington, and settled
at St. Mary's, about 1793. He was a gentleman of taste, reading,
refined feeling, and cultivated manners, which enabled him to direct
the education of his children, an object to which he assiduously
devoted himself; and his residence was long known as the seat of
hospitality and refinement to all who visited the region. In 1814,
his premises were visited, during his absence, by a part of the force
who entered the St. Mary's, under Colonel Croghan, and his private
property subjected to pillage, from a misapprehension, created by
some evil-minded persons, that he was an agent of the Northwest
Company. Genial, social, kind, and benevolent, his society was much
sought, and he was sometimes imposed on by those who had been
received into his employments and trusts (as in the reports which
carried the Americans to his domicil in 1814). He died at St. Mary's,
in 1828, leaving behind, among his papers, evidence that his leisure
hours were sometimes lightened by literary employments. Mr. Johnston,
by marrying the daughter of the ruling chief of this region, placed
himself in the position of another Rolfe. Espousing, in Christian
marriage, the daughter of Wabjeeg, he became the son-in-law of
another Powhatan; thus establishing such a connection between the
Hibernian and Chippewa races, as the former had done between the
English and Powhetanic stocks.

The Sault (from the Latin _Saltus_, through the French) or Falls of St.
Mary, is the head of navigation for vessels on the lakes, and has been,
from early days, a thoroughfare for the Indian trade. It is equally
renowned for its white fish, which are taken in the rapids with a
scoop-net. The abundance and excellence of these fish has been the
praise of all travellers from the earliest date, and it constitutes a
ready means of subsistence for the Indians who congregate here.

The place was chiefly memorable in our tour, however, as the seat of the
Chippewa power. To adjust the relations of the tribe with the United
States, a council was convened with the chiefs on the day following our
arrival. This council was assembled at the Governor's _marquée_, which
was graced by the national ensign, and prepared for the interview with
the usual presents. The chiefs, clothed in their best habiliments, and
arrayed in feathers and British medals, seated themselves, with their
usual dignity, in great order, and the business was opened with the
usual ceremony of smoking the peace pipe. When this had been finished,
and the interpreter[39] taken his position, he was directed to explain
the views of the Government, in visiting the country, to remind them
that their ancestors had formerly conceded the occupancy of the place to
the French, to whose national rights and prerogatives the Americans had
succeeded, and, by a few direct and well-timed historical and practical
remarks, to secure their assent to its reoccupancy. The utmost attention
was bestowed while this address was being made, and it was evident, from
the glances of the hearers, that it was received with unfriendly
feelings, and several chiefs spoke in reply. They were averse to the
proposition, and first endeavored to evade it by pretending to know
nothing of such former grants. This point being restated by the American
commissioner, and pressed home strongly, was eventually dropped by them.
Still, they continued to speak in an evasive and desultory manner, which
had the effect of a negative. It was evident that there was a want of
agreement, and some animated discussion arose among themselves. Two
classes of persons appeared among the chiefs. Some appeared in favor of
settling a boundary to the ancient precinct of French occupancy,
provided it was not intended to be occupied by a garrison, saying, in
the symbolic language of Indians, that they were afraid, in that case,
their young men might kill the cattle of the garrison. Gov. Cass,
understanding this, replied that, as to the establishment of a garrison,
they need not give themselves any uneasiness--it was a settled point,
and so sure as the sun that was then rising would set, so sure would
there be an American garrison sent to that point, whether they renewed
the grant or not. This decisive language had a sensible effect. High
words followed between the chiefs. The head chief of the band,
Shingabawossin, a tall, stately man, of prudent views, evidently sided
with the moderates, and was evasive in his speech. A chief called
Shingwauk, or the Little Pine, who had conducted the last war party from
the village in 1814, was inclined to side with the hostiles. There was a
chief present called Sassaba, a tall, martial-looking man, of the
reigning family of chiefs of the Crane Totem, who had lost a brother in
the battle of the Thames. He wore a scarlet uniform, with epaulets, and
nourished a deep resentment against the United States. He stuck his war
lance furiously in the ground before him, at the beginning of his
harangue, and, assuming a savage wildness of air, appeared to produce a
corresponding effect upon the other Indian speakers, and employed the
strongest gesticulation. His address brought the deliberations to a
close, after they had continued some hours, by a defiant tone; and, as
he left the _marquée_, he kicked away the presents laid before the
council. Great agitation ensued. The council was then summarily
dissolved, the Indians went to their hill, and we to our tents.

[39] James Riley, a son of the late J. V. S. Riley, Esq., of
Schenectady, N. Y., by a Saganaw woman; a man well versed in the
language, customs, and local traditions of the Chippewas.

It has been stated that the encampment of the Indians was situated on an
eminence a few hundred yards west from our position on the shore, and
separated from us by a small ravine. We had scarcely reached our tents,
when it was announced that the Indians had raised the British flag in
their camp. They felt their superiority in number, and did not disguise
their insolence. Affairs had reached a crisis. A conflict seemed
inevitable. Governor Cass instantly ordered the expedition under arms.
He then called the interpreter, and proceeded with him, naked-handed
and alone, to Sassaba's lodge at the hostile camp. Being armed with
short rifles, we requested to be allowed to accompany him as a
body-guard, but he decidedly refused this. On reaching the lodge of the
hostile chief, before whose door the flag had been raised, he pulled it
down with his own hands. He then entered the lodge, and addressing the
chief calmly but firmly, told him that it was an indignity which they
could not be permitted to offer; that the flag was the distinguishing
symbol of nationality; that two flags of diverse kind could not wave in
peace upon the same territory; that they were forbid the use of any but
our own, and should they again attempt it, the United States would set a
strong foot upon their rock and crush them. He then brought the captured
flag with him to his tent.

In a few moments after his return from the Indian camp, that camp was
cleared by the Indians of their women and children, who fled with
precipitation in their canoes across the river. Thus prepared for
battle, we momently expected to hear the war-whoop. I had myself
examined and filled my shot-pouch, and stood ready, rifle in hand, with
my companions, awaiting their attack. But we waited in vain. It was an
hour of indecision among the Indians. They deliberated, doubtingly, and
it soon became evident that the crisis had passed. Finding no hostile
demonstration from the hill, Lieuts. Pierce and Mackay directed their
respective commands to retire to their tents.

The intrepid act of Governor Cass had struck the Indians with amazement,
while it betokened a knowledge of Indian character of which we never
dreamed. This people possess a singular respect for bravery. The march
of our force, on that occasion, would have been responded to, instantly,
by eighty or a hundred Indian guns; but to behold an unarmed man walk
boldly into their camp and seize the symbol of their power, betokened a
cast of character which brought them to reflection. On one person in
particular the act had a controlling effect. When it was told to the
daughter of Wäbojeeg (Mrs. Johnston), she told the chief that their
meditated scheme of resistance to the Americans was madness; the day for
such resistance was passed; and this man, Cass, had the air of a great
man, and could carry his flag through the country. The party were also
under the hospitality of her roof. She counselled peace. To these words
Shingabowassin responded; he was seconded by Shingwäkonce, or the Little
Pine. Of this effort we knew nothing at the moment, but the facts were
afterwards learned. It was evident, before the day had passed, that a
better state of feeling existed among the Indians. The chief
Shingabowassin, under the friendly influences referred to, renewed the
negotiations. Towards evening a council of the chiefs was convened in
one of the buildings of this Pocahontean counsellor, and the treaty of
the 16th June, 1820 (_vide_ Ind. Treaties United States) signed. In this
treaty every leading man united, except Sassaba. The Little Pine signed
it, under one of his synonymous names, Lavoine Bart. By this treaty the
Chippewas cede four miles square, reserving the right of a place to fish
at the rapids, perpetually. The consideration for this cession, or
acknowledgment of title, was promptly paid in merchandise.

The way being thus prepared for our entry into Lake Superior, it was
decided to proceed the next day. Before leaving this point, it may be
observed that the falls are produced by a stratum of red sandstone rock,
which crosses the bed of the St. Mary's at this place. The last
calcareous formation, seen in ascending the straits, is at Isle a la
Crosse. As we proceed north, the erratic block stratum becomes heavier,
and abraded masses of the granite, trap, sandstone, and hornblende
series are confusedly piled together on the lake shores, and are
abundant at the foot of these falls. In the central or middle channel,
the waters leap from a moderate height, from stratum to stratum, at two
or three points, producing the appearance, when seen from below, of a
mass of tumbling waves. The French word _Sault_ (pronounced _so_)
accurately expresses this kind of pitching rapids or falls. The Indians
call it Bawateeg, or Pawateeg, when speaking of the phenomenon, and
Bawating or Pawating, when referring to the place. Paugwa is an
expression denoting shallow water on rocks. The inflection _eeg_ is an
animate plural. _Ing_ is the local terminal form of nouns. In the south
or American channel, there is no positive leap of the water, but an
intensely swift current, which is parted by violent jets, between rocks,
still permitting canoes, skilfully guided, to descend, and empty boats
to be drawn up. But these falls are a complete check to ship navigation.
The descent of water has been stated by Colonel Gratiot, of the United
States Engineers, at twenty-two feet ten inches.[40] They resemble a
bank of rolling foam, and with their drapery of trees on either shore,
and the mountains of Lake Superior in the distance, and the moving
canoes of fishing Indians in the foreground, present a most animated and
picturesque view.

[40] ST. MARY'S CANAL.--Thirty-three years have produced an
astonishing progress. A ship-canal is now (1853) in the process of
being constructed at these falls, by the State of Michigan, under a
grant of public land for that purpose, from Congress. It is to
consist of two locks of equal lift, dividing the aggregate fall. This
canal will add the basin of Lake Superior to the line of lake
navigation. It will enable ships and steamers to enter the St. Louis
River of Fond du Lac, and to reach a point in latitude corresponding
to Independence, on the Missouri. No other point of the lake chain
reaches so far by some hundreds of miles towards the Rocky Mountains;
and this canal will eventually be the outlet to the Atlantic cities
of the copper and other mines of Lake Superior, and of the
agricultural and mineral products of all the higher States of the
Upper Mississippi and of the Missouri, and a part of Oregon and
Washington on the Pacific.

To the Chippewas, who regard this spot as their ancient capital, it is
doubtless fraught with many associations, and they regard with jealousy
the advance of the Americans to this quarter. This tribe, in the absence
of any older traditions, are regarded as the aboriginal inhabitants of
the place. They are, by their language, Algonquins, and speak a pure
dialect of it. They call themselves Ojibwas. _Bwa_, in this language,
denotes voice, Ojibwamong signifies Chippewa language, or voice. It is
not manifest what the prefixed syllable denotes. They are a numerous
people, and spread over many degrees of latitude and longitude. We have
had them constantly around us, in some form, since leaving Detroit, and
they extend to the Great Winnipeg Lake of Hudson's Bay. They appear, at
the French era of discovery, to have been confined almost exclusively to
the north bank of the St. Lawrence, below the influx of the Ottowa
River, extending to Lake Nepising, and the geographical position seems
to have been the origin of the name Algonquin.

Whilst encamped here, we witnessed the descent down the rapids of eleven
barges and canoes laden with furs from the north. This trade forms the
engrossing topic, at this point, with all classes. Hazardous as it is,
the pursuit does not fail to attract adventurers, who appear to be
fascinated with the wild freedom of life in the wilderness.

CHAPTER V.

Having accomplished the object of our visit, at this place, no time was
lost in pushing our way into the basin of Lake Superior. The distance to
it is computed to be fifteen miles above the Sault. It was nine o'clock
of the morning following the day of the treaty, when the men began to
take the canoes up the rapids, and transport the provisions and baggage.
This occupied nearly the whole of the day. Taking leave of Lieutenant
Pierce, who returned with his command, from this point and our
hospitable hostess, we proceeded to the head of the portage, long before
the canoes and stores all arrived. To while away the time, while the men
were thus employed, we tried our skill at rifle shooting. It was six
o'clock in the evening before the work of transportation was finished,
and the canoes loaded, when we embarked. The view from the head of the
portage is imposing. The river spreads out like an arm of the sea. In
the distance appear the mountains of Lake Superior.

We proceeded two leagues, and encamped at Point aux Pins, on the
Canadian shore. At six o'clock the next morning we were again in our
canoes, and crossed the strait, which is here several leagues wide, to
the west, or Point Iroquois Cape. In this traverse we first beheld the
entrance into Lake Superior. The scene is magnificent, and I could fully
subscribe to the remark made by Carver, "that the entrance into Lake
Superior affords one of the most pleasing prospects in the world." The
morning was clear and pleasant, with a favoring breeze, but a tempest of
wind and rain arose, with severe thunder, soon after we had
accomplished the passage, which compelled us hastily to land on the
Point Iroquois shore. This storm detained us five or six hours before
the waters were sufficiently calm to embark. Among the boulders, I
picked up a fine specimen of graphic granite, most perfectly
characterized. About two o'clock, we entered this great inland sea. How
feeble and inadequate are all geographical attempts to describe this
vast body of water, with its imposing headlands, shores, and islands.
The St. Mary's River passes out between two prominent capes, called Gros
Cape and Point Iroquois. The former rises up in elevated barren peaks of
sienite and hornblende rock; the latter consists of nearly equally
elevated masses of horizontal red sandstone, covered with a dense
forest. The line of separation is, perhaps, three leagues, forming a
geological gap, through which, at ancient periods, the drift and boulder
strata has been forced, with an amazing power. For we find these
boulders, of the disrupted sienites, hornblende, trap, and sandstone
rocks of these northern latitudes heaped in profusion along the entire
shores of the river, and cast out, far and wide, into the basin of Lake
Huron.

There is a little island, called Isle des Iroquois, just off the foot of
the American cape, which is a noted stopping-place for boat and canoe
voyagers. On passing this spot, the lake spreads out like a sea. Towards
the north, can be seen on the horizon the blue peaks of distant
mountains. Southerly, the Point Iroquois formation of sandstone appears
skirting the shore, at several miles distance. At the computed distance
of fifteen miles, we passed the mouth of the Taquimenon River. It was
already evening when we came here, but we were far out from shore, and
the guides thought best to keep on their course a league farther, which
brought us, at 11 o'clock at night, into the mouth of the Onzig, or
Shelldrake River. At this spot, we found an encampment of Chippewa
Indians, who were friendly, and quite profuse in their salutation of
_bosho_. At the moment we were ready to embark, the next morning, a
brigade of traders' boats, on the route to Michilimackinac, was
descried, coming in to the same point. This interview detained us till 8
o'clock. Within a league, we met eighteen or twenty Chippewa canoes on
their journey towards the same point; and at the computed distance of
three leagues from the Onzig, we reached, and turned the bleak shores of
White-Fish Point, called Namikong[41] by the Indians. Thus far, we had
been imbayed in an arm of the lake which embraces Parisian Island,
another link of the sandstone formation; but here the lake, stretching
westwardly, displays itself in all its magnificence. On the left,
spreads a long line of sandy coast; on the right, an illimitable expanse
of water, which was bounded only by the horizon. Beyond these features,
there is not a prominent object to catch the eye. The magnificence which
first pleases, at last tires. The change of course brought the wind
ahead, and we were soon compelled to land on these bleak sandy wastes.
While thus detained, an express canoe from St. Mary's reached us with
letters. A couple of hours were employed in dispatching this canoe on
its return; meantime the wind lulled, and we went on ten miles and
encamped on the sands.

[41] From _na_, excellent; _amik_, beaver; and _ong_, a place.

The next morning, we were again in motion at five o'clock. Twelve miles
coasting along this unvaried shore, brought us to the mouth of a stream
called Neezhoda, Seepe,[42] or Twin River, which is imprecisely called
Two-Hearted River by the traders. The peculiarity of this stream
consists in the union of two separate rivers, near the point of its
outlet. Seven leagues beyond this spot brought us to the inlet called
Grande Marais. Immediately west of this begins an elevated naked coast
of sand-dunes, called Gitche Nägow,[43] or La Grande Sables. To
comprehend the geology of this coast, it is necessary to state that it
consists of several heavy strata of the drift era, reaching a height of
two or three hundred feet, with a precipitous front on the lake. The
sands driven up by the lake are blown over these heights, forming a
heavy deposit. It is this sandy deposit, falling down the face of the
precipice, that appears to convert the whole formation into dunes,
whereon the sandy coating rests, like a veil, over the pebble and
clay-drift. Their desert and Sahara-like appearance is quite impressive
to the travellers who visit these coasts in boats or canoes. The number
of rapacious birds which are observed about these heights, adds to the
interest of the prospect. Dr. Wolcott, and some other members of the
party who ascended the formation, reported a small lake on this
elevation. The sands were observed, in some places, to be deposited over
its vegetation so as to arrest its growth. The largest trees were often
half buried and destroyed. Not less than nine miles of the coast,
agreeably to _voyageur_ estimates, are thus characterized by dunes.

[42] From _oda_, a heart; _neezh_, two; and _seebe_, a river.

[43] From _nägow_, sand; and _gitche_, great.

I found the sandstone formation of Cape Iroquois to reappear at the
western termination of these heights on the open shores of the lake,
where I noticed imbedded nodules of granular gypsum. At this point,
known to our men as La Pointe des Grandes Sables, we pitched our tents,
at nightfall, under a very threatening state of the atmosphere. The
winds soon blew furiously, followed by a heavy rain-storm--and sharp
thunder and lightning ensued. Our line of tents stood on a gently rising
beach, within fifty yards of the margin of the lake, where they were
prostrated during the night by the violence of the waves. The rain still
continued at early daylight, the waves dashing in long swells upon the
shore. At sunrise the tempest abated, and by eight o'clock the
atmosphere assumed a calm and delightful aspect. It was eleven o'clock,
however, before the waves sufficiently subsided to permit embarkation.
Indeed, a perfect calm now ensued. This calm proved very favorable--as
we discovered on proceeding three leagues--to our passing the elevated
coast of precipitous rock, called Ishpäbecä,[44] and Pictured Rocks.
This coast, which extends twelve miles, consists of a gray sandstone,
forming a series of perpendicular façades, which have been fretted, by
the action of the waves, into the rude architecture of pillared masses,
and open, cavernous arches. These caverns present their dark mouths to
observation as the voyager passes. At one spot a small stream throws
itself from the cliffs into the lake at one leap. In some instances the
cliffs assume a castellated appearance. At the spot called the Doric
Rock, near the commencement of these picturesque precipices, a vast
entablature rests on two immense rude pillars of the water-worn mass. At
a point called Le Portail, the vast wall of rock had been so completely
excavated and undermined by the lake, that a series of heavy strata of
rock rested solely on a single pillar standing in the lake. The day was
fine as we passed these geological ruins, and we sat silently gazing on
the changing panorama. At one or two points there are small streams
which break the line of rock into quadrangles. A species of dark red
clay overlies this formation, which has been carried by the rains over
the face of the cliffs, where, uniting with the atmospheric sand and
dust, it gives the whole line a pictorial appearance. We almost held our
breath in passing the coast; and when, at night, we compared our
observations around the camp-fire, there was no one who could recall
such a scene of simple novelty and grandeur in any other part of the
world; and all agreed that, if a storm should have arisen while we were
passing, inevitable destruction must have been our lot. We came to Grand
Island at a seasonable hour in the evening, and encamped on the margin
of its deep and land-locked harbor. Our camp was soon filled with
Chippewas from a neighboring village. They honored us in the evening by
a dance. Among these dancers, we were impressed with the bearing of a
young and graceful warrior, who was the survivor of a self-devoted
war-party of thirteen men, who, having marched against their ancient
enemies the Sioux, found themselves surrounded in the plain by superior
numbers, and determined to sell their lives at the dearest rate. To this
end, they dug holes in the earth, each of which thus becoming a
fortification for its inmate, who dared their adversaries till
overpowered by numbers. One person was selected to return with the news
of this heroic sacrifice; this person had but recently returned, and it
was from his lips that we heard the tragic story.

[44] From _iupa_, high; _aubik_, a rock; and the substantive
termination, _a_.

My mineralogical searches along the shores this day rewarded me with
several water-worn fragments of agate, carnelian, zeolite, and prase,
which gave me the first intimation of our approach to the trap and
amygdaloidal strata, known to be so abundant in their mineral affluence
in this quarter.

We left Grand Island the next morning at six o'clock, and passing
through a group of sandstone islands, some of which had had their
horizontality disturbed, we came to the mouth of Laughing-fish River,
where a curious flux and reflux of water is maintained. From this place,
a line of sandstone coast was passed, northwardly, till reaching its
terminus on the bay of Chocolate River. This is a large and deep bay,
which it would have required a day's travel to circumnavigate. To avoid
this, the men held their way directly across it, steering N. 70° W.,
which, at the end of three leagues, brought us to Granite Point. Here
we first struck the old crystalline rocks or primitive formation. This
formation stretches from the north shores of the Gitche Sebeeng,[45] or
Chocolate River, to Huron Bay, and gives the traveller a view of rough
conical peaks. These characterize the coast for a couple of days'
travel. They are noted for immense bodies of iron ore, which is chiefly
in the condition of iron glance.[46] At Presque Isle, it assumes the
form of a chromate of iron in connection with serpentine rock. We
encamped on level ground on a sandstone formation, in the rear of
Granite Point, and had an opportunity of observing the remarkable manner
in which the horizontal sandstone rests upon and against the granitical,
or, more truly, sienitic eminences. These sandstone strata lap on the
shoulders of the primitive or crystalline rocks, preserving their
horizontal aspect, and forming distinct cliffs along parts of the coast.
This sandstone appears, from its texture and position, to be the "old
red sandstone" of geologists.

[45] From _gitche_, great; _sebee_, a river; and the local terminal
_ng_, signifying place.

[46] The extensive iron works of Carp River, which are now yielding
such fine blooms, are seated on the verge of these mountains.

The next morning (23d) we quitted our encampment at an early hour, in a
haze, and urged our way, with some fluctuations of weather, an estimated
distance of eleven leagues. This brought us, at four o'clock in the
afternoon, to Huron River. Sitting in the canoe, in a confined position,
makes one glad at every opportunity to stretch his limbs, and we
embraced the occasion to bathe in the Huron. The shore consists of a
sandy plain, where my attention was called to the Kinnikenik, a plant
much used by the Indians for smoking. It is the _uva ursi_. I had seen
it once before, on the expedition, at Point aux Barques.

We inspected here, with much attention, an Indian grave, as well from
the care with which it was made, as the hieroglyphics cut on the
head-posts. The grave was neatly covered with bark, bent over poles, and
made roof-shaped. A pine stake was placed at the head. Between this and
the head of the grave, there was placed a smooth tablet of cedar wood,
with hieroglyphics. Mr. Riley, our interpreter, explained these. The
figure of a bear denoted the chief or clan. This is the device called a
Totem. Seven red strokes denoted his scalp honors in Indian heraldry, or
that he had been seven times in battle. Other marks were not understood
or interpreted. A paling of saplings inclosed the space.

On the following morning, our camp was astir at the customary early
hour, when we proceeded to Point aux Beignes, a distance of six miles.
Attaining this point, we entered Keweena Bay, coasting up its shores for
an estimated distance of three leagues. We were then opposite the mouth
of Portage River, but separated from it a distance of twelve miles. I
was seated in Lieutenant Mackay's canoe. The whole squadron of five
canoes unhesitatingly put out. The wind was adverse; before much
progress had been made in crossing, three of our flotilla, after
struggling against the billows, put back; but we followed the headmost
one, which bore the Governor's flag, and, seizing hold of the paddles to
relieve the men, we succeeded in gaining the river. The other canoes
came up the next morning, at seven o'clock, when we all proceeded to
cross the Portage Lake, and up an inlet, which soon exhibited a rank
growth of aquatic plants, and terminated, after following a very narrow
channel, in a quagmire. We had, in fact, reached the commencement of the
Keweena Portage.

Before quitting this spot, it may be well to say, that the geology of
the country had again changed. Portage Lake lies, in fact, in the
direction of the great copper-bearing trap dyke. This dyke, estimating
from the end of the peninsula, extends nearly southwest and northeast,
probably seventy miles, with a breadth of ten miles. It is overlaid by
rubblestone and amygdaloid, which latter, by disintegration, yields the
agates, carnelians, and other silicious, and some sparry crystalline
minerals, for which the central shores of Lake Superior are remarkable.
Nearly every part of this broad and extensive dyke which has been
examined, yields veins, and masses of native copper, or copper ores.

The word was, when we had pushed our canoes into the quagmire, that each
of the gentlemen of the party was to carry his own personal baggage
across the portage. This was an awkward business for most of us. The
distance was but two thousand yards, but little over a mile, across
elevated open grounds. I strapped my trunk to my shoulders, and walked
myself out of breath in getting clear of the brushy part of the way,
till reaching the end of the first _pause_, or resting-place. Here I met
the Governor (Cass), who facetiously said: "You see I am carrying _two_
pieces," alluding to his canoe slippers, which he held in his hands. "A
_piece_," in the trade, is the back load of the _engagee_.

On reaching the termination of the second "pause," or rest, we found
ourselves on a very elevated part of the shore of Lake Superior. The
view was limitless, the horizon only bounding the prospect. The waves
rolled in long and furious swells from the west. To embark was
impossible, if we had had our baggage all brought up, which was not the
case. The day was quite spent before the transportation was completed.
This delay gave us an opportunity to ramble about, and examine the
shore. In a boulder of serpentine rock, I found an imbedded mass of
native copper, of two pounds' weight. On breaking the stone, it proved
to be bound together by thin filaments of this metal. Small water-worn
fragments of chalcedony, agate, carnelian, and other species of the
quartz family were found strewn along the beach, together with fragments
of zeolite. Masses of the two former minerals were also found imbedded
in amygdaloid and trap-rock, thus denoting the parent beds of rock. In
the zeal which these little discoveries excited on the subject of
mineralogy, the Chippewa, Ottowa, and Shawnee Indians attached to the
expedition participated, and as soon as they were made acquainted with
the objects sought, they became successful explorers. They had noticed
my devotion to the topic, from the time of our passing the Islands of
Shawangunk, Michilimackinac, and Flat-rock Point, in the basin of Lake
Huron, where organic forms were chiselled from the rock; and bestowed on
me the name of Paguäbëkiegä.[47]

[47] The equivalent of geologist or mineralogist, from _pagua_, a
tabular surface; _aubik_, a rock; and _ëga_, the active voice of the
verb to strike.

It turned out the next morning, that the whole of the baggage and
provisions had not been brought up, nor any of the canoes. This work was
early commenced by the men. About half the day was employed in the
necessary toil. When it was concluded, the wind on the lake had become
too high, blowing in an adverse direction, to permit embarkation.
Nothing remained but to submit to the increased delay, during which we
made ourselves as familiar with the neighboring parts of the lake shore
as possible. During the time the expedition remained encamped at the
portage, I made a short excursion up the peninsula northeastwardly,
accompanied by Captain Douglass, Mr. Trowbridge, and some other persons.
The results of this trip are sufficiently comprehended in what has
already been stated respecting the geology and mineralogy of this
prominent peninsula.

On the following morning (27th) the wind proved fair, and the day was
one of the finest we had yet encountered on this fretful inland sea. We
embarked at half-past four A. M., every heart feeling rejoiced to speed
on our course. The prominent headlands, west of this point, are capped,
as those on its south-eastern border, with red sandstone. The wind
proved full and adequate to bear us on, without endangering our safety,
which enabled the steersmen to hold out boldly, from point to point. We
had not proceeded far beyond the cliffs west of the portage, when the
dim blue outlines of the Okaug or Porcupine Mountains[48] burst on our
view.[49] Their prominent outline seemed to stretch on the line of the
horizon directly across our track. The atmosphere was quite transparent,
and they must have been seen at the distance of sixty miles. Captain
Douglass thought, from the curve of the earth, that they could not be
less than eighteen hundred feet in height. We successively passed the
entrance of Little Salmon-Trout, Graverod, Misery, and Firesteel Rivers,
at the latter of which a landing was made; when we again resumed our
course, and entered the Ontonagon River, at half-past three in the
afternoon. A large body of water enters the lake at the spot, but its
mouth is filled up very much by sands. One of those curious refluxes is
seen here, of which a prior instance has been noticed, in which its
waters, having been impeded and dammed up by gales of wind, react, at
their cessation, with unusual force. The name of the River Ontonagon[50]
is, indeed, due to these refluxes, the prized dish of an Indian female
having, agreeably to tradition, been carried out of the river into the
lake.

[48] From _kaug_, a porcupine.

[49] For the view of this scene, see Information on the History,
Condition, and Prospects of the Indian Tribes, vol. iv. Title iv.

[50] From the expression _nontonagon_, my dish; and _neen_, the
pronoun _my_.

Captain Douglass made observations for the latitude of the place, and
determined it to be in north latitude 46° 52´ 2´´. The stationary
distances of the route are given in the subjoined list, in which it may
be observed that they are probably exaggerated about one-third by the
voyagers and northwest traders, who always pride themselves on going
great distances; but they denote very well, in all cases, the _relative_
distances.

_Stationary Distances between Michilimackinac and the River Ontonagon._

Total
Miles. Miles.

From Michilimackinac to Detour 40
Thence to Sault de St. Marie 45 85
Point aux Pins 6 91
Point Iroquois, at the entrance into Lake
Superior 9 100
Taquamenon River 15 115
Shelldrake River 9 124
White-Fish Point 9 133
Two-Hearted River 24 157
Grande Marrais, and commencement of
Grande Sables 21 178
La Point la Grande Sables 9 187
Pictured Rocks (La Portaille) 12 199
Doric Rock, and Miner's River 6 205
Grande Island 12 217
River aux Trains 9 226
Isle aux Trains 3 229
Laughing-Fish River 6 235
Chocolate River 15 250
Dead River (in Presque Isle Bay) 6 256
Granite Point 6 262
Garlic River 9 271
St. John's River, or Yellow Dog Run 15 286
Salmon-Trout, or Burnt River 12 298
Pine River 6 304
Huron River (Huron Islands lie off this
River) 9 313
Point aux Beignes (east Cape of Keweena Bay) 6 319
Mouth of Portage River 21 340
Head of Portage River (through Keweena
Lake) 24 364
Lake Superior, at the head of the Portage 1 365
Little Salmon-Trout River 9 374
Graverod's River (small, with flat rocks at
its mouth) 6 380
Rivière au Misère 12 392
Firesteel River 18 410
Ontonagon, or Coppermine River 6 416

CHAPTER VI.

Chippewa village at the mouth of the Ontonagon--Organize an expedition
to explore its mineralogy--Incidents of the trip--Rough nature of
the country--Reach the copper rock--Misadventure--Kill a
bear--Discoveries of copper--General remarks on the mineral
affluence of the basin of Lake Superior.

A small Chippewa village, under the chieftainship of
Tshwee-tshweesh-ke-wa, or the Plover, and Kundekund, the Net Buoy, was
found on the west bank of the river, near its mouth, the chiefs and
warriors of which received us in the most friendly manner. If not
originally a people of a serene and placid temperament, they have been
so long in habits of intercourse with the white race that they are quite
familiar with their manners and customs, and mode of doing business.
They appeared to regard the Canadian-Frenchmen of our party as if they
were of their own mode of thinking, and, indeed, almost identical with
themselves.

The Ontonagon River had, from the outset, formed an object of
examination, from the early and continued reports of copper on its
borders. It was determined to lose no time in examining it. Guides were
furnished to conduct a party up the river to the locality of the large
mass of this metal, known from early days. This being one of the
peculiar duties of my appointment, I felt the deepest interest in its
success, and took with me the apparatus I had brought for cutting the
rock and securing proper specimens.

The party consisted of Governor Cass, Dr. Wolcott, Captain Douglass,
Lieutenant Mackay, J. D. Doty, Esq., and myself. We embarked in two
canoes, with their complement of men and guides. It was six o'clock,
when, leaving the balance of the expedition encamped at the mouth of the
river, east shore, we took our departure, in high spirits, for the
copper regions. A broad river with a deep and gentle current, with a
serpentine channel, and heavily wooded banks with their dark-green
foliage overhanging the water, rendered the first few miles of the
trip delightful. At the distance of four miles, we reached a
sturgeon-fishery, formed by extending a weir across the river. This weir
consists of upright and horizontal stakes and poles, along the latter of
which the Indians move and balance themselves, having in their hands an
iron hook on a pole, with which the fish are caught. We stopped a few
moments to look at the process, received some of the fish drawn up
during our stay, which are evidently the _Acipenser oxyrinchus_, and
went on a couple of miles higher, where we encamped on a sandbar. Here
we were welcomed, during the sombre hours off the night, with a
pertinacity we could have well dispensed with, by the mosquitos.

We resumed the ascent at four o'clock in the morning. The river is still
characterized for some miles by rich alluvial banks, bearing a dense
forest of elm, maple, and walnut, with a luxuriant growth of underbrush.
But it was soon perceived that the highlands close in upon it and narrow
its channel, which murmurs over dangerous beds of rocks and stones.
Almost imperceptibly, we found ourselves in an alpine region of a very
rugged character. The first rapid water encountered had been at the
Indian weir, on the 27th. These rapids, though presenting slight
obstacles, became more frequent at higher points. We had been in our
canoes about three hours, the river having become narrower and more
rapid, when the guides informed the party that we had ascended as far
into the mountainous district as was practicable; that there was a
series of bad rapids above; and that, by landing at this spot, the party
could proceed, with guides, to the locality of the copper rock.
Accordingly, arrangements were made to divide the party; Governor Cass
placed at my service the number of men necessary to explore the country
on foot, and carry the implements. Dr. Wolcott and Captain Douglass
joined me. I took my departure with eight persons, including two Indian
guides, in quest of the mineral region, over the highlands on the west
bank of the river; while the Governor, Major Forsyth, and the other
guides, remained with the canoes, which were lightened of half their
burden, in hopes of their being able to ascend the stream quite to the
Rock. Starting with my party with alacrity, this trip was found to be
one of no ordinary toil.

Not only was the country exceedingly rough, carrying us up and down
steep depressions, but the heat of the sun, together with the exercise,
was oppressive, nor did our guides seem to move with a precision which
betokened much familiarity with the region, if they did not feel,
indeed, some compunction on leading whites to view their long
superstitiously concealed mineral treasures. At one o'clock we came to
an Indian path, leading directly to th

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