USA > Minnesota > Dahkotah land and Dahkotah life [microform] : with the history of the fur traders of the extreme northwest during the French and British dominions > Part 14
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On the sixth of July, 1779, a number of Choctaws, Chickasaws, and Ojibways were on a visit to the fort, when Wapashaw appeared; and great was their astonishment when they beheld balls discharged from the cannons of the fort flying over the canoes, and the Dahkotah braves lifting their paddles as if to strike them, and trying out, " Taya! taya !"
De Peyster, who was fond of rhyming, composed a rude song, suggested by the scene, which is copied as a ·curiosity :-
" Hail to the chief! who his buffalo's back straddles,
When in his own country, far, far, from this fort ;
Whose brave young canoe-men, here hold up their paddles, Y In hopes, that the whizzing balls, may give them sport. .
G. H. Pond.
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Hail to great Wapashaw ! He comes, beat drums, the Scioux chief comes.
"They now stres their nerves till the canoe runs bounding, As swift as vue Solen goose skims o'er the wave, While on the Lake's border, a guard is surrounding A space, where to land the Scioux so brave.'
Hail ! to great Wapashaw ! Soldiers 1 your triggers draw 1.
Guard ! wave the colours, and give him the drum. Choctaw and Chickasaw, = Whoop for great Wapashaw ; Raise the portcullis, the King's friend is come.1 -
When the news reached Mackinaw that Colonel George R. Clark, in command of Virginia troops, was : taking possession of the Wabash and Mississippi settle- ments, and establishing the jurisdiction of Virginia, the English traders became uneasy lest the Americans should advance to the far North-west. As a precau- tionary measure they formed themselves into a militia company, of which John McNamara was captain, and a trader by the name of J. Long lieutenant.
In the month of June, 1780, the intelligence was received from the Mississippi that the traders had depo- sited their furs at the Indian settlement of Prairie du Chien, and had left them in charge of Langlade, the king's interpreter ; and also that the Americans were in great force in the Illinois country.
. By request of the commanding officer at Mackinaw, Long went to Prairie du Chien, with twenty Canadians,
1 These uncouth lines are from a he seems to have been popular with volume of miscellanies published by the traders. When he was ordered De Peyster, at Dumfries, Scotland, in 'to another post, they presented him 1812, in the possession of Hon. L. C. with a silver pun owl, gilt inside, Draper, Secretary of the Wisconsin holding a gallon and a half, and a Historical Society. De Peyster's wife silver ladle, as mark of regard. 1
accompanied him to Mackinaw, and
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HISTORY OF MINNESOTA.
and thirty-six, Fox and Dahkotah Indians, in nine large birch canoes. 1
One day, while camping lon the Wisconsin river, they discovered a small log hut, in which was a trader, with his arms cut off, lying on his back, who had been mur- dered by the Indians.
The next day the expedition arrived at the "Forks of the Mississippi," where two hundred Fox Indians, on horseback, armed with spears, bows, and arrows, awaited them. Among the Dahkotah Indians of the party was Wapashaw, by whose order the birch canoes were brought to the shore. Upon landing the Foxes greeted Wapashaw and his party, and invited them to a feast of. dog, bear, and beaver meat.
After the feast a council was called, when the chief of the Foxes addressed Wapashaw to this effect :-
" Brothers, we are happy to see you; we have no bad heart against you. ' Although we are not the same nation by language, our hearts are the same. We are all Indians, and are happy to hear that our Great Father has pity on us, and sends us wherewithal to cover us, and enable us to hunt."
To which Wapashaw replied :-
. " It is true, my children, our Great Father, has sent me this way to take the skins and furs that are in the Dog's Field (Prairie du Chien), under Captain Lang- lade's charge, lest the Great Knives (Americans) should . plunder them. I am come with the white men to give you wherewithal to cover you, and ammunition to
Arriving at Prairie du Chien, the peltries were found in a løg house, guarded by Captain Langlade and some Indians. After resting a short period, the canoes were
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FORMATION OF NORTH-WEST COMPANY. -
filled with three hundred packs of the best skins, and the balance burned to keep them from the Americans, who a few days afterwards arrived for the purpose of attacking the post.
At this period the M'dewakantonwan Dahkotahs had retired from the region of Mille Lac, and were residing at Penneshaw's1 post, on the Minnesota, a few miles above its mouth.
After the disturbance of commerce, incident to the . cession of Canada, had ceased, the trade in furs began to revive. In the year 1766, traders left Mackinaw, and proceeded as far as Kamanistigoya, thirty miles east of Grand Portage. Thomas Curry shortly after ventured as far as the valley of the Saskatchewan, and . his success in obtaining furs induced a Mr. James Fin- lay to establish a post in the same valley, as high as the forty-eighth and a half degree of latitude.
1 . The Hudson Bay Company were uneasy at this en- croachment of private enterprise upon the territory, and endeavoured to counteract it, though without success.
About the year 1780, two establishments on the Assiniboine river were destroyed by the Indians, and a plot laid to extirpate the traders, but that "noisome pestilence," the small pox, breaking out among the tribes, their attention was diverted.
During the winter of 1783-4, there was a partnership « formed by a number of traders, which was called the North-west Company. There were at first but sixteen shares, and the management of the whole was entrusted to the brothers Frobisher and McTavish, at Montreal.
J. A few that were dissatisfied, formed an opposition
1 The same individual called Penneshon and Pinchon.
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HISTORY OF MINNESOTA.
company, one of the members of which was the explorer and author Alexander Mackenzie. After a keen rivalry, · this company was merged with the North-west in 1787, and the number of shares was increased to twenty.
From that time the fur trade of the north-west was systematized. The agents at Montreal received the goods from England, and two of them went every year to the Grand Portage of Lake Superior, to receive packs and ship the furs for Europe.
In 1798, the company was re organized, new partners admitted, and the shares increased to forty-six.
The magnitude of the operations of the company sur- prise us. At the close of the last century, they em- ployed fifty clerks, seventy-one interpreters, eleven hundred and twenty canoe-m Five clerks, eighteen guides, and three hundred" fifty canoe-men were employed between the head of Lake Superior and Mon- treal. The others were in Minnesota, and the country above. The canoe men were known as ". Pork Eaters," or "Goers and Comers," and " Winterers," the latter so called because they entered the interior and passed the winter in traffic with the Indians, received double wages, and were hired from one to three years. The clerks were, a kind of apprentices, and received a salary of one hundred pounds, with their board and clothing, with the prospect of being taken into partnership, if they proved good business men. The guides and-interpreters were paid in goods.
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In July the " Winterers" began to assemble at Grand Portage to settle their accounts and receive new outfits, and at times more than one thousand were congregated. The mode of living at the Portage was truly baronial. The proprietors, clerks, guides, and interpreters all ate in
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233
TRADERS AT SANDY LAKE AND PINE RIVER.
one large hall, at different tables, and, the labours of the day over, the fiddlers were brought in and there was a merry time. The trader in his lonely outpost, con- sidered the reunions at Lake Superior halcyon days, and was buoyed up by anticipating the annual visit.
The love of adventure has often led educated young men "into the woods," as well as "before the mast." Sailor 'life and Indian trade, unless there is strong reli- gious principle, are apt to render one "earthly, sensual and devilish." There have been scenes enacted in Min- nesota which will never be known till the judgment day, for ignorance of which we should be grateful.
The history of one trader at an outpost, is substan- tially the history of all.
In the year 1784, Alexander Kay visited Montreal to obtain an outfit for the purpose of trading at Fon du Lao, Leech Lake, and vicinity in Minnesota. A young man, educated at the College of 'Quebec, named Perrault, became his clerk. They arrived at La Pointe on the first of November.
On the little lake at the entrance of the St. Louis river, they found the quarters of Default, a clerk of the North-west Company. .
Kay while here was mad, in consequence of intoxica- tion, and with obstinacy pushed up the St. Louis river, with only a bag of flour, a keg of butter, and of sugar, while his party consisted of his squaw mistress, · Perrault, and fourteen employees. At the portage of the river he met his partner, Mr. Harris, also without food, except some salt meat.
The men now remonstrated with Kay about proceed- ing inland, with no provision for the winter ;. but draw-
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HISTORY OF MINNESOTA.
ing a pistol, he threatened to shoot those that did not follow. 1
Taking Mr, Harris, an Indian named Big Marten, and seven men, he pushed on in advance, and the next day sent back word that he had gone on to Pine River,1 and desiring his clerk to winter at the Savanne portage if possible. ***..
After eleven days' hard toil amid ice and snow, sub- sisting on the pods of the wild rose, and the sap of trees, Perrault and the men reached the point designated. For a time they lived there on a few roots and fish, but about Christmas, hunger compelled them to seek their · employer at Pine River. . Weak in body, they passed through Sandy Lake, descended the river, and at last arrived at Kay's post at Pine River. After he was recruited, Perrault was despatched to the Savanne portage, where, with his men, he built a log hut.
Toward the close of February, Brechet, Big Marten, and other Ojibway Indians, brought in meat. Mr. Kay shortly after visited his clerk, and told the troubles he had with the Indians, who exceedingly hated him. In April Kay and Perrault visited Sandy Lake, where Bras Cassé, or Broken Arm, or Bo-koon-ik, was the Ojibway chief. On the second of May, Kay went out to meet his partner Harris coming from Pine River.
· During his absence, Katawabada,' and Mongozid, and other Indians, came and demanded rum. After much entreaty Perrault gave them a little. Soon Harris, · Kay, and Pinot arrived, all intoxicated. The Indians were ripe for mischief. An Indian, named Le Cousin 5
1 Pino River is a' tributary of the possible to reach Leech Lake by this Mississippi, about a day's journey stream.
in a canoe from Sandy Lake. It is
" Katawabada or Parted Teeth, died at Sandy Lake 1828.
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KAY WOUNDED IN A DRUNKEN REVEL.
by the French, came to Kay's tent, and asked for rum, Kay told him "No," and pushed him out; the Indian then drew a concealed knife, and stabbed him in the neck. Kay, picking up a carving knife, chased him, but before he could reach his lodge, the passage was blocked up by Indians.
The assailant's mother, approaching Kay, said, "Eng- lishman'! do you come to kill me ?" and, while implor- ing for her son, with savage cruelty stabbed him in the side.
Le Petit Mort, a friend of the wounded trader, took up his quarrel, and sallying forth, seized Cul Blanc, an Ojibway, by the scalp lock, and, drawing his head back, , he plunged a knife into his breast, exclaiming "Die, thou dog !"
The Indian women, becoming alarmed at this bac- chanal, went into the lodges and emptied out all the rum they could find.
On the fifth of May, Kay's wound was better, and sending for Harris and Perrault to come to his tent, he said :-
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".Gentlemen, you see my situation ; I have determined to leave you at all hazards, to set out for Mackinaw, with seven men, accompanied by the Bras Cassé and wife. Assort the remainder of the goods, ascend to Leech Lake, and wait there for the return "of the Pil- lagers, who are out on the prairies. Complete the inland trade."
Kay, then taking hold of Perrault's hand, Harris having retired, said :- 1
" My dear friend ! you understand the language of the Ojibways. Mr. Harris would go out with me, but he must accompany you. He is a good trader, but he
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HISTORY OF MINNESOTA.
has, like myself and others, a strong passion for drink- ing, which takes away his judgment."
In the afternoon Kay left, in a litter, for Mackinaw. Perrault and Harris proceeded to Leech Lake, where they had a successful trade with the Pillagers.
Returning to the Savannah river, they found J. Reaume there, and a Mr. Piquet. The former had wintered at the fort of Red Lake, at its entrance into Red River.
They all proceeded by way of the Fond du Lac to Mackinaw, where they arrived on the twenty-fourth of May, and found Kay in much pain. The latter soon after this started for Montreal, but his wound suppurated on the journey, and he died at the Lake of the Two Moun- tains, August twenty-eighth, 1785.1
About the period of this occurrence, Prairie du Chien made its transition, from a temporary encampment of Indians and their traders, to a' hamlet. Among the first settlers were Giard, Antaya, and Dubuque.
In the year 1780, the wife of Peosta, a Fox warrior, discovered a large vein of lead, in Iowa, on the west bank of the Mississippi.
At a council held at Prairie du Chien, in 1788, Julien Dubuque obtained permission to work the lead mines, on and near the site of the city that bears his name, and the bluff, on which is the little stone house that covers his remains.
Towards the close of the last century we find Dick- son, Renville, Grignon, and others, trading with the Ojibways and Dahkotahs of Minnesota. In the employ
1 " History, condition, and pros- Mr. Schoolcraft says that Harris peots` of the Indian Tribes of the was a native of Albany, and was alive in 1830.
United States," vol. iii.
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JUDGE PERLIER, TRADER IN MINNESOTA.
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ment of the latter, at his trading-house on the river St. Croix, was James Perlier, a youth, who in the next century became one of the most useful citizens of Green Bay, Wisconsin, ' He was a native of Montreal, and arrived at Green Bay in 1791. Two years after he was employed by an old trader, Pierre Grignon, to act as clerk, at his trading, post on the St. Croix. While there he found, with a band of Menomonees, an inte- resting girl, the daughter of a woman that had been abandoned by a French trader, with whom he fell in love, and married. In the year 1797, in company with Dickson, he wintered near Sauk Rapids. When Pike visited the country he was still engaged in trading above the Falls of St. Anthony, and he gave this young officer much information, which he deemed valua- ble. Returning to Wisconsin he acted as chief justice of Brown county, for a period of sixteen years, and died in 1839, much respected.
While Perlier was wintering on the St. Croix, a broken-down merchant of Montreal, who had married a lady of wealth in that city, a pompous and ignorant man, full of eccentricity, by the name of Charles · Reaume, was his companion. To the early settlers of Green Bay he was known as Judge Reaume. While -1 on the St. Croix the following anecdote is related of him :-
" One day he invited Perlier and other traders in the vicinity to dine with him. The guests had arrived, and the venison, cooked in bears' oil and maple sugar was prepared, when Amable Chevalier, a half-breed, told Reaume that there were not plates enough on the table, as there was none for him. 'Yes, there are enough,'. said Reaume, sternly; when the half-breed tore from
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HISTORY OF MINNESOTA.
Reaume's head his red cap, and spreading it upon the table, filled it with the hashed venison .. Reaume, in retaliation, seizing a handful of meat, threw it into the half-breed's face. Becoming much excited, it was neces- sary for the guests to part the belligerents."1
In the year 1794, the North-west Company built an establishment at Sandy Lake, with bastions, and aper- tures in the angles for musketry. It was enclosed with pickets a foot square and thirteen feet in height. There were three gates, which were always closed after the Indians had received liquor. "The stockade enclosed two rows of buildings, containing the provision store,. workshop, warehouse, room for clerks, and accommoda- tion for the men. On the west and south-west angles of the fort were four acres of ground, enclosed with pickets, and devoted to the culture of the potato."
The British posts were not immediately surrendered after the treaty of 1783 between Great Britain and America, and led to some ill-feeling upon the part of the United States. When Baron Steuben was sent by Washington, in 1784, to Detroit, to take possession of the fort, the British commandant informed him that he had no authority to deliver up the post, as it was on Indian territory. By the presence of British officials `among the Indian tribes, a hostile feeling was main- tained towards the citizens of the United States, which led to the wars with the Indians toward the close of the last century.
In the treaty effected by Mr. Jay, Great Britain agreed to withdraw her troops from all posts and places within the boundary lines assigned by the treaty of
1 Wisconsin Historical Society Collections, vol. iii.
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NORTH-WEST CO. ESTABLISH POSTS IN MINNESOTA. . 239 -
peace to the United States, on or before the first day > of June, 1796. The treaty also provided that all British settlers and traders might remain for one year, "and- enjoy all their former privileges without being com- pelled to be citizens of the United States.
Taking advantage of this clause, the North-west Company, through the Fond du Lac department, dotted every suitable place in Minnesota with trading posts.
They not only encircled the lakes, but did not pay. duties nor apply for licenses. At these posts the British flag was hoisted; and they frequently created civil chiefs among the Indians, to whom they presented the colours and medals of his Britannic majesty.
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NEILL'S HISTORY OF MINNESOTA,
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FROM ITS EARLIEST EXPLORATIONS
UNDER THE
12:
FRENCH AND BRITISH GOVERNMENTS,',
TO THE PRESENT TIME.
BY REV. EDW. DUFFIELD NEILL,
SECRETARY OF THE MINNESOTA HISTORICAL" SOCIETY.
One Volume, Odtavo, 628 pages. Price $2 50. On receipt of which · the work ury be sent by mail postpaid.
THIS work, although the history of but one State, is a contribu- tion to the general history of the Confederacy. It is the result of careful and widely-extended research, and written in a style so · . plain and graphic that it can be read aloud to those who gather, . on a winter's night, around the capacious fireplace of a frontiers- man's cabin. At the same time, the facts concerning the opera- tions of the French Court in the Northwest in the last century, make it valuable on the parlor-table of the cultivated, in the book- case of the literary man, and in the libraries of schools and semi- naries. =
One copy, postage prepaid, sent for $2 50 to any address, by S.C. GRIGGS & Co., Chicago; or the Publishers,
J. B. LIPPINCOTT & CO., Philadelphia.
RECOMMENDATIONS.
FROM HON. S. P. CHASE, GOVERNOR OF OHIO.
"I have found the history of Minnesota very interesting. It exhibits, in striking lights, incredible progress."
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RECOMMENDATIONS.
FROM PROF. LONGFELLOW, AUTHOR OF "EVANGELINE" AND "HIAWATHA."
"Your History of Minnesota I have looked over with much interest. * * * * I do not see how, the work can be re- garded otherwise than as an important contribution to our his- toric literature."
FROM REV. S. R. RIGGS, MISSIONARY AMONG THE DAHKOTAHS.
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"Mr. Neill has, from the commencement of his residence in Min- nesota, interested himself in the history, customs, conditions, and language of the Aborigines, and, perhaps, I might say, especially of the Dahkotahs. He is, therefore, in most respects, a very fit man to represent them to the world. I know of no man, not connected with our missionary work, who has sympathized with its difficulties and made himself acquainted with its results, to a greater extent than Mr. Neill. And I may add, he has not failed to do ample · justice.
"As a collection of historical incidents, it is very interesting and valuable; and as such I most cordially commend it to every one who desires to know more of Minnesota, past and present, than he can obtain,from any other source."
FROM THE DAILY MINNESOTIAN, (ST. PAUL.)
"Few will appreciate the immense labor, distributed through a period of nine years, which this work has cost its author. As it is read over, and we observe the great mass of facts which it con- tains, new and entirely original with this work, and relating to the very early history of Minnesota,-embodying the travels of the . first explorers, the operations of the first Indian traders, the trans-
ac pr be by W
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th h 8 t T
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RECOMMENDATIONS. 9
actions and shifting relations of the Indian tribes who were its primitive inhabitants, -- the mass of its readers we fear will scarcely . bestow a thought upon the difficulties that have been surmounted by the persevering industry of Mr. Neill in giving this work to the world."
FROM THE NORTH WESTERN HOME JOURNAL, (CHICAGO.) '
. "We confess to a high degree of satisfaction in reading this book. The publishers have done their work well. The binding, type, and plat are neat and excellent. The reader will get through the six hundred pages, and more, without either a pain in his eyes or his heart.
"But what-asks the person who has not yet seen the book, and scarcely ever heard of the subject of which it treats-what can there be in a history of Minnesota worthy of so much applause ? Very much indeed-romance enough to eke out a dozen novels."
FROM THE WASHINGTON UNION.
"Mr. Neill has executed his work in a very creditable manner. * * * We have twice explored the Territory of Minnesota up to the boundary-line of the British Possessions, traversing the forests, and navigating those majestic lakes in a frail birch canoe, and we can bear personal testimony to the truth of Mr. Neill's warm eulogies of the beauty and fertility of the immense tracts of country in the new State, which are. yet undisturbed even by the pioneer's axe."
FROM THE PHILADELPHIA EVENING BULLETIN.
"This is not only a very scholarly but a very curious and inte- resting book-one, too, presenting no inconsiderable claim to be ranked among the first-class works of American history." -
ch a it is con- the the . ans- .
and one he
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RECOMMENDATIONS.
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FROM THE PRESS, (PHILADELPHIA.)
"In some respects, this volume deserves to be estimated as an important contribution to historical and topographical literature. Mr. Neill has evidently brought industry, ability, research, per- sonal knowledge, and unscrupulous honesty to the execution of this, his delf-imposed task. It will be difficult-we might say im- possible -to supersede this work, so copious and satisfactory are its details. Messrs. Lippincott, the publishers, have presented it to the public in their most attractive manner."
FROM THE HOME JOURNAL, (NEW YORK)
"All who take any interest in the progress of our western coun- try will read this fine volume with satisfaction. It contains & large amount of facts and statistics, together with much entertaining reading matter-including biographical sketches, graphic descrip- tions of scenery, etc. etc. "In a word, it will amply repay perusal."
FROM THE HISTORICAL MAGAZINE, (NEW YORK.)
"This work bears the impress of authority-that authority which derives its weight from careful investigation, and a sincere desire to ascertain and promulgate the truth. * Mr. Neill's volume may be safely commended as one of the most readable books on the history of the new States in the West, and well de- serving an attentive perusal."
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