USA > Minnesota > Freeborn County > History of Freeborn County, including explorers and pioneers of Minnesota, and outline history of the state of Minnesota > Part 12
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Lake Pepin excited his admiration, as it has that of every traveler since his day, and here he remarks : " I observed the ruins of a French fac- tory, where it is said Captain St. Pierre resided, and carried on a very great trade with the Nau- dowessies, before the reduction of Canada."
Carver's first acquaintance with the Dahkotahs commenced near the river St. Croix. It would seem that the erection of trading posts on Lake Pepin had enticed them from their old residence on Rum river and Mille Lacs.
Ile says: "Near the river St. Croix reside bands of the Naudowessie Indians, called the River Bands. This nation is composed at pres- ent of eleven bands. They were originally twelve, but the Assinipoils, some years ago, re- volting and separating themselves from the oth- ers, there remain at this time eleven. Those I met here are termed the River Bands, because they chiefly dwell near the banks of this river; the other eight are generally distinguished by the
66
.
EXPLORERS AND PIONEERS OF MINNESOTA1.
title of Nadowessies of the Plains, and inhabit a country more to the westward. The names of the former are Nehogatawonahs, the Mawtaw- bauntowahs, and Shashweentowahs.
Arriving at what is now a suburb of the cap- ital of Minnesota, he continues: " About thir- teen miles below the Falls of St. Anthony, at which I arrived the tenth day after I left Lake Pepin, is a remarkable cave, of an amazing depth. The Indians term it Wakon-teebe [Wakan-tipi]. The entrance into it is about ten feet wide, the height of it five feet. The arch within is fifteen feet high and about thirty feet broad; the bottom consists of fine, elear sand. Abont thirty feet from the entrance begins a lake, the water of which is transparent, and extends to an unseareh- able distance, for the darkness of the cave pre- ents all attempts to acquire a knowledge of it.] I threw a small pebble towards the nterior part of it with my utmost strength. I could hear that it fell into the water, and, notwithstanding it was of a small size, it caused an astonishing and ter- rible noise, that reverberated through all those gloomy regions. I found in this eave many In- dian hieroglyphies, which appeared very ancient. for time had nearly covered them with moss. so that it was with diffienlty I could trace them. They were cut in a rude manner upon the inside of the wall, which was composed of a stone so ex- tremely soft that it might be easily penetrated with a knife; a stone everywhere to be found near the Mississippi.
" At a little distance from this dreary eavern, is the burying-place of several bands of the Nau- dowessie Indians. Though these people have no fixed residence, being in tents, and seldom but a few months in one spot, yet they always bring the bones of the dead to this place.
"Ten miles below the Falls of St. Anthony. the river St. Pierre, calted by the natives Wada- paw Menesotor, falls into the Mississippi from the west. It is not mentioned by Father Hennepin, though a large, fair river. 'This omission, I con- sider, must have proceeded from a small island [like's] that is situated exactly in its entrance."
When he reached the Minnesota river, the iee became so troublesome that he left his canoe in the neighborhood of what is now St. Anthony, and walked to St. Anthony, in company with a " young Winnebago chief, who had never seen the
curling waters. The chief. on reaching the emi- nence some distance below Cheever's, began to invoke his gods, and offer oblations to the spirit in the waters.
" In the middle of the Falls stands a small island. about forty fect broad and somewhat lon- ger. on which grow a few cragged hemlock and spruce trees, and about half way between this island and the eastern shore is a rock, lying at the very edge of the Falls, in an oblique position that appeared to be about five or six feet broad. and thirty or forty long. At a little distance be- low the Falls stands a small island of about an acre and a half, on which grow a great number of oak trees."
From this description, it would appear that the little island, now some distance below the Falls, was once in the very midst, and shows that a con- stant recession has been going on, and that in ages long past they were not far from the Minne- sota river.
No description is more glowing than Carver's of the country adjacent:
" The country around them is extremely beau- tiful. It is not an uninterrupted plain, where the eye finds no relief, but composed of many gentle ascents, which in the summer are covered with the finest verdure, and interspersed with little groves that give a pleasing variety to the pros- peet. On the whole, when the Falls are inclu- ded, which may be seen at a distance of four miles, a more pleasing and picturesque view, 1 believe, cannot be found throughout the uni- verse."
" He arrived at the Falls on the seventeenth of November, 1766, and appears to have ascended as far as Elk river.
On the twenty-fifth of November, he had re- turned to the place opposite the Minnesota, where he had left his canoe, and this stream as yet not being obstructed with iee, he commeneed its as- cent, with the colors of Great Britain flying at the stern of his canoe. There is no doubt that he entered this river, but how far he explored it cannot be ascertained. Ile speaks of the Rapids near Shakopay, and asserts that he went as far as two hundred miles beyond Mendota. Hle re- marks:
". On the seventh of December, I arrived at the utmost of my travels towards the West, where I
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SIOUX BURLIL ORATION VERSIFIED BY SCHILLER.
met a large party of the Naudowessie Indians, among whom I resided some months."
After speaking of the upper bands of the Dah- kotahs and their allies, he adds that he " left the habitations of the hospitable Indians the latter end of April, 1767, but did not part from them for several days, as I was accompanied on my journey by near three hundred of them to the mouth of the river St. Pierre. At this season these bands annually go to the great cave (Day- ton's Bluff) before mentioned.
When he arrived at the great cave, and the In- dians had deposited the remains of their deceased friends in the burial-place that stands adjacent to it, they held their great council to which he was admitted.
When the Naudowessies brought their dead for interment to the great cave (St. Paul), I attempted to get an insight into the remaining burial rites, but whether it was on account of the stench which arose from so many dead bodies, or whether they chose to keep this part of their custom secret from me, I could not discover. I found, however, that they considered my curiosity as ill-timed, and therefore I withdrew. * *
One formality among the Nandowessies in mourning for the dead is very different from any mode I observed in the other nations through which I passed. The men, to show how great their sorrow is, pierce the flesh of their arms above the elbows with arrows, and the women cut and gash their legs with broken flints till the blood flows very plentifully. * *
After the breath is departed, the body is dressed in the same attire it usually wore, his face is painted, and he is seated in an erect pos- ture on a mat or skin, placed in the middle of the hut, with his weapons by his side. Ilis relatives seated around, each in turn harangues the de- ceased; and if he has been a great warrior, re- counts his heroic actions, nearly to the following purport, which in the Indian language is extreme- ly poetical and pleasing
"You still sit among us, brother, your person retains its usual resemblance, and continues sim- ilar to ours, without any visible deficiency, ex- cept it has lost the power of action! But whither is that breath flown, which a few hours ago sent up smoke to the Great Spirit? Why are those lips silent, that lately delivered to us expressions
and pleasing language? Why are those feet mo- tionless, that a few hours ago were fleeter than the deer on yonder mountains? Why useless hang those arms, that could climb the tallest tree or draw the toughest bow? Alas, every part of that frame which we lately beheld with admira- tion and wonder has now become as inanimate as it was three hundred years ago! We will not, however, bemoan thee as if thou wast forever lost to us, or that thy name would be buried in oblivion; thy soul yet lives in the great country of spirits, with those of thy nation that have gone before thee; and though we are left behind io perpetuate thy fame, we will one day join thee.
" Actuated by the respect we bore thee whilst living, we now come to tender thee the last act of kindness in our power; that thy body might not lie neglected on the plain, and become a prey to the beasts of the field or fowls of the air, and we will take care to lay it with those of thy predeces- sors that have gone before thee; hoping at the same time that thy spirit wilt feed with their spirits, and be ready to receive ours when we shatt also arrive at the great country of souls."
For this speech Carver is principally indebted to his imagination, but it is well conceived, and suggested one of Sehitler's poems, which Goethe considered one of his best, and wished " he had made a dozen such."
Sir E. Lytton Bulwer the distinguished novelist, and Sir John Herschet the eminent astronomer, have each given a translation of Schiller's " Song of the Nadowessee Chief."
SIR E. L. BULWER'S TRANSLATION.
See on his mat-as if of yore, All life-like sits he here ! With that same aspect which he wore When light to him was dear
But where the right hand's strength ? and where The breath that loved to breathe
To the Great Spirit, aloft in air, The peace pipe's lusty wreath ?
And where the hawk-like eye, alas ! That wont the deer pursue,
Along the waves of rippling grass, Or fields that shone with dew ?
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EXPLORERS AND PIONEERS OF MINNESOTA.
Are these the limber, bounding fret That swept the winter's snows ? What stateliest stag so fast and fleet ? Their speed outstripped the roe's !
These arms, that then the steady bow Could supple from it's pride, Hlow stark and helpless hang they now Adown the stiffened side !
Yet weal to him -- at peace he stays Wherever fall the snows ; Where o'er the meadows springs the maize That mortal never sows.
Where birds are blithe on every brake- Where orests teem with deer- Where glide the fish through every lake- One chase from year to year !
With spirits now he feasts above ; All left us to revere The deeds we honor with our love, The dust we bury here.
Here bring the last gift ; loud and shrill Wail death dirge for the brave ;
What pleased him most in life, may still Give pleasure in the grave.
Welty the axe beneath his head Hle swung when strength was strong- The bear on which his banquets fed, The way from earth is long.
And here, new sharpened, place the knife That severed from the clay.
From which the axe had spoiled the life, The conquered scalp away.
The paints that deck the dead, bestow ; Yes, place them in his hand, That red the kingly shade may glow Amid the spirit land.
SIR JOHN HERSCHEL'S TRANSLATION.
See, where upon the mat he sits Ereet, before his door, With just the same majestic air That once in life he wore.
But where is fled his strength of limb, The whirlwind of his breath, To the Great Spirit, when he sent. The peace pipe's mounting wreath?
Where are those falcon eyes, which late Along the plain could trace, Along the grass's dewy waves The reindeer's printed pace?
Those legs, which once with matchless speed, Flew through the drifted snow, Surpassed the stag's unwearied course, Outran the mountain roe?
Those arms, once used with might and main, The stubborn bow to twang? See, see. their nerves are slack at last, All motionless they hang.
'Tis well with him, for he is gone Where snow no more is found, Where the gay thorn's perpetual bloom Decks all the field around.
Where wild birds sing from every spray, Where deer come sweeping by, Where fish from every lake afford A plentiful supply.
With spirits now he feasts above, And leaves us here alone. To celebrate his valiant deeds, And round his grave to moan.
Sound the death song, bring forth the gifts, The last gifts of the dead,- Let all which yet may yield him joy Within his grave be laid.
The hatchet place beneath his hea l Still red with hostile blood; And add, because the way is long, The bear's fat limbs for food.
The sealping-knife beside him lay. With paints of gorgeous dye. That in the land of souls his form May shine triumphantly.
It appears from other sources that Carver's visit to the Dalikotahs was of some effect in bring- ing about friendly intercourse between them and the commander of the English force at Mackinaw.
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CARVER'S PROJECT FOR A ROUTE TO THE PACIFIC.
The earliest mention of the Dakotahs, in any public British documents that we know of, is in tlie correspondence between Sir William Johnson, Superintendent of Indian Affairs for the Colony of New York, and General Gage, in command of the forces.
On the eleventh of September, less than six months after Carver's speech at Dayton's Bluff, and the departure of a number of chiefs to the English fort at Mackinaw, Johnson writes to General Gage: "Though I wrote to you some days ago, yet I would not mind saying something again on the score of the vast expenses incurred, and, as I understand, still incurring at Michili- mackinac, chiefly on pretense of making a peace between the Sioux and Chippeweiglis, with which I think we have very little to do, in good policy or otherwise."
Sir William Johnson, in a letter to Lord Hills- borough, one of his Majesty's ministers, dated August seventeenth, 1768, again refers to the subject :
"Much greater part of those wlio go a trading are men of such circumstances and disposition as to venture their persons everywhere for extrava- gant gains, yet the consequences to the public are not to be slighted, as we may be led into a general quarrel through their means. The In- dians in the part adjacent to Michillmackinac have been treated with at a very great expense for some time previous.
"Major Rodgers brings a considerable charge against the former for mediating a peace between some tribes of the Sioux and some of the Chippe- weighs, which, had it been attended with success, would only have been interesting to a very few French, and others that had goods in that part of the Indian country, but the contrary has hap- pened, and they are now more violent, and war against one another."
Though a wilderness of over one thousand miles intervened between the Falls of St. An- thony and the white settlements of the English, Carver was fully impressed with the idea that the State now organized under the name of Minne- sota, on account of its beauty and fertility, would attract settlers.
Speaking of the advantages of the country, he says that the future population will be "able to convey their produce to the seaports with great
facility, the current of the river from its source to its entrance into the Gulf of Mexico being ex- tremely favorable for doing this in small craft. This might also in time be facilitated by canals or shorter cuts, and a communication opened by water with New York by way of the Lakes."
The subject of this sketch was also confident that a route would be discovered by way of the Minnesota river, which would open a passage to China and the English settlements in the East Indies."
Carver having returned to England, interested Whitworth, a member of parliament, in the northern route. Had not the American Revolu- tion commenced, they proposed to have built a fort at Lake Pepin, to have proceeded up the Minnesota until they found, as they supposed they could, a branch of the Missouri, and from thence, journeying over the summit of lands un- til they came to a river which they called Ore- gon, they expected to descend to the Pacific.
Carver, in common with other travelers, had his theory in relation to the origin of the Dahko- tahs. He supposed that they came from Asia. He remarks: "But this might have been at dif- ferent times and from various parts-from Tar- tary, China, Japan, for the inhabitants of these places resemble each other. * * *
"It is very evident that some of the names and customs of the American Indians resemble those of the Tartars, and I make no doubt but that in some future era, and this not far distant, it will be reduced to certainty that during some of the wars between the Tartars and Chinese a part of the inhabitants of the northern provinces were driven from their native country, and took refuge in some of the isles before mentioned, and from thence found their way into America. * * *
"Many words are used both by the Chinese and the Indians which have a resemblance to each other, not only in their sound, but in their signi- fication. The Chinese call a slave Shungo; and the Noudowessie Indians, whose language, from their little intercourse with the Europeans, is least corrupted, term a dog Shungush [Shoan- kalı.] The former denominate one species of their tea Shoushong; the latter call their tobacco Shou- sas-sau [Chanshasha.] Many other of the words used by the Indians contain the syllables che, chaw, and chu, after the dialect of the Chinese."
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EXPLORERS AND PIONEERS OF MINNESOTA1.
The comparison of languages has become a rich source of historical knowledge, yet many of the analogies traced are fanciful. The remark of Humbolt in " Cosmos" is worthy of remembrance. "As the structure of American idioms appears remarkably strange to nations speaking the mod- ern languages of Western Europe, and who readily suffer themselves to be led away by some acci- dental analogies of sound, theologians have gen- erally believed that they could frace an affinity with the Hebrew, Spanish colonists with the Basque and the English, or French settlers with Gaclic, Erse, or the Bas Breton. I one day met on the coast of Peru, a Spanish naval officer and an English whaling captain, the formter of whom declared that he had heard Basque spoken at Ta- liti; the other, Gaelie or Erse at the Sandwich Islands."
('arver became very poor while in England, and was a clerk in a lottery-office. He died in 1750, and left a widow, two sons, and five daught- ers, in New England. and also a child by another wife that he had married in Great Britain
After his death a elaim was urged for the land upon which the capital of Minnesota now stands, and for many miles adjacent. As there are still many persons who believe that they have some right through certain deeds purporting to be from the heirs of Carver, it is a matter worthy of an investigation.
Carver says nothing in his book of travels in re- lation to a grant from the Dahkotahs. but after he was buried, it was asserted that there was a deed belonging to him in existence, conveying valuable lands, and that said deed was executed at the cave now in the eastern suburbs of Saint Paul.
DEED PURPORTING TO HAVE BEEN GIVEN AT THE CAVE IN THE BLUFF BELOW ST. PAUL.
" To Jonathan Carver, a chief under the most mighty and potent George the Third, King of the English and other nations, the fame of whose warriors has reached our ears, and has now been fully told us by our good brother Jonathan, afore- said, whom we rejoice to have come among us, and bring us good news from his country.
"We, chiefs of the Nandowessies, who have hereunto set our seals, do by these presents, for ourselves and heirs forever, in return for the aid and other good services done by the said Jona-
than to ourselves and allies. give grant and con- vey to him, the said Jonathan, and to his heirs and assigns forever. the whole of a certain tract or territory of land, bounded as follows, viz: from the Falls of St. Anthony, running on the east bank of the Mississippi, nearly southeast, as far as Lake Pepin, where the Chippewa joins the Mississippi, and from thence eastward five days travel, accounting twenty English miles per day; and from thence again to the Falls of St. Anthony, on a direct straight line. We do for ourselves, heirs, and assigns, forever give unto the said Jo- nathan, his heirs and assigns, with all the trees, rocks. and rivers therein, reserving the sole lib- erty of bunting and fishing on land not planted or improved by the said Jonathan, his heirs and assigns, to which we have affixed our respective seals.
" At the Great Cave, May Ist. 1767.
"Signed, HIAWNOPAWJATIN.
OTOHTANGOOMLISHIEAW. "
The original deed was never exhibited by the assignees of the heirs. By his English wife Car- ver had one child, a daughter Martha, who was cared for by Sir Richard and Lady Pearson. In time she eloped and married a sailor. A mercan- tile firm in London, thinking that money could be made, induced the newly married couple, the day after the wedding, to convey th grant to them, with the understanding that they were to have a tenth of the profits.
The merchants despatched an agent by the name of Clarke to go to the Dahkotahs, and ob- tain a new deed; but on his way he was murdered in the state of New York.
In the year 1794, the heirs of Carver's Ameri- ean wife, in consideration of fifty thousand pounds sterling, conveyed their interest in the Carver grant to Edward Houghton of Vermont. In the year 1806, Samuel Peters, who had been a lory and an Episcopal minister during the Revolu- tionary war, alleges, in a petition to Congress, that he had also purchased of the heirs of Carver their rights to the grant.
Before the Senate committee, the same year, he testified as follows:
"In the year 1774, I arrived there (London), and met Captain Carver. In 1775, Carver had a hearing before the king, praying his majesty's approval of a deed of land dated May first, 1767,
.
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UNITED STATES REJECT CARVER'S CLAIM.
and sold and granted to him by the Naudowissies. The result was his majesty approved of the exer- tions and bravery of Captain Carver among the Indian nations, near the Falls of St. Anthony, in the Mississippi, gave to said Carver 13711. 13s. Sd. sterling, and ordered a frigate to be prepared, and a transport ship to carry one hundred and fifty men, under command of Captain Carver, with four others as a committee, to sail the next June to New Orleans, and then to ascend the Missis- sippi, to take possession of said territory conveyed to Captain Carver ; but the battle of Bunker Ifill prevented."
In 1821, General Leavenworth, having made inquiries of the Dahkotahs, in relation to the alleged claim, addressed the following to the commissioner of the land office :
"Sir :- Agreeably to your request, I have the honour to inform you what I have understood from the Indians of the Sioux Nation, as well as some facts within my own knowledge, as to what is commonly termed Carver's Grant. The grant purports to be made by the chiefs of the Sioux of the Plains, and one of the chiefs uses the sign of a serpent, and the other of a turtle, purport- ing that their names are derived from those ani- mais.
"The land lies on the east side of the Mississ- ippi. The Indians do not recognize or acknowl edge the grant to be valid, and they among others assign the following reasons:
"1. The Sioux of the Plains never owned a foot of land on the east side of the Mississippi. The Sioux Nation is divided into two grand di- visions, viz: The Sioux of the Lake; or perhaps more literally Sioux of the River, and Sioux of the Plain. The former subsists by hunting and fishing, and usually move from place to place hy water, in canoes, during the summer season, and travel on the ice in the winter, when not on their hunting excursions. The latter subsist en- tirely by hunting, and have no canoes, nor do they know but little about the use of them. They reside in the large prairies west of the Mississippi, and follow the buffalo, upon which they entirely subsist; these are called Sioux of the Plain, and never owned land east of the Mississippi.
"2. The Indians say they have no knowledge of any such chiefs as those who have signed the grant to Carver, either amongst the Sioux of the
River or the Sioux of the Plain. They say that if Captain Carver did ever obtain a deed or grant, it was signed by some foolish young men who were not chiefs and who were not author- ized to make a grant. Among the Sioux of the River there are no such names.
"3. They say the Indians never received any- thing for the land, and they have no intention to part with it without a consideration. From my knowledge of the Indians, I am induced to think they would not make so considerable a grant, and have it to go into full effect without receiving a substantial consideration.
"4. They have, and ever have had, the pos- session of the land, and intend to keep it. I know that they are very particular in making every person who wishes to cut timber on that tract obtain their permission to do so. and to ob- tain payment for it. In the month of May last, some Frenchmen brought a large raft of red cedar timber out of the Chippewa River, which timber was cut on the tract before mentioned. The In- dians at one of the villages on the Mississippi, where the principal chief resided, compelled the Frenchmen to land the raft, and would not per- mit them to pass until they had received pay for the timber, and the Frenchmen were compelled to leave their raft with the Indians until they went to Prairie du Chien, and obtained the nec- essary articles, and made the payment required."
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