Compendium history and biography of North Dakota; a history of early settlement, political history, and biography; reminiscences of pioneer life, Part 7

Author:
Publication date: 1900
Publisher: Chicago, G.A.Ogle
Number of Pages: 1432

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ing. The weather was growing cold, and severe temperature being likely to soon overtake them, the leaders of the expedition began to look around them for a suitable spot for the erection of winter quarters. On the first of November such a spot was found on an extensive bottom covered with a vigorous growth of cottonwood trees. Here they built a strong stockade and constructed substantial cabins in which to pass the winter season. A close search of the journal of the expedition, and of the memoirs of Patrick Gass, one of its members, fails to disclose the exact spot of this encampment, so that it can not be accurately located at the present. From the latitude, which is given as forty-seven degrees, twenty-one minutes, twenty-three sec- onds north and longitude one hundred and one de- grees, twenty-five minutes west of Greenwich, the quarters, to which they gave the name of Fort Mandan, would place it on the west bank of the Missouri, but a few miles below the mouth of the Big Knife river. It has been suggested that the site of this place was the site afterwards occupied by old Fort Clark, built in 1809. The claim is also made, probably with a good show of probability, that it stood on what is now section 14, township 144 north, range 82, west of the sixth principal meridian. This would place it upon the other or left bank of the river near where Washburn, Mc- Lean county, is now situated. The distance from this point to the mouth of the Big Knife river is about twenty-five miles. About the 7th or 8th of December an immense herd of buffalo invaded the bottom around the fort and whites and Indians indulged in a general slaughter of the beasts, both for provender, and for the valuable hides. On the Ioth the spirit in the thermometer froze when exposed to the open air ; but the men did not suffer materially, being able to go about readily. This was due to the healthful, dry, cold atmosphere. Christmas and New Years were celebrated at the fort by high festivities. Of the weather observed by these pioneers in this new country we are told that no rain fell between November and January 21; that the temperature was alternately cold and moderate, and that they had occasional snow storms. The men employed their time throughout the winter in constructing four dugouts or canoes, which they had completed by March I, and two more shortly after.

On the 7th of April, 1805, the expedition, hav- ing made all preparations, broke up their winter quarters and entering their two pirogues and six

COMPENDIUM OF HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY.

canoes, started anew on their long journey into the unknown land. The battean was sent back to St. Louis loaded with furs, peltry and curiosities. On the 12th of the same month they reached the mouth of the Little Missouri river. Here it is men- tioned by Mr. Gass, in his annals of the trip, that they found specimens of petrified wood, so per- fectly marked that they could determine the species of trees, some being oak, others ash or cottonwood. Some of the men carried off pieces for whetstones. Diligently pursuing their way, day by day, the party reached the mouth of the Yellowstone river and made measurements of that stream which proved to be the larger one of the two streams. The expedition passed on up the Missouri through the mountains and then followed the Columbia river to its confluence with the waters of the mighty Pacific. The two main branches of the Columbia, for many years, bore the names of Clark and Lewis, respectively. On their return trip the expedition reached the mouth of the Yel- lowstone August 7, 1806, from whence they moved onward to St. Louis, traversing the Dakotas with but little incident.

THE ASTOR OR HUNT EXPEDITION.

Early in the century John Jacob Astor, wealthy merchant of New York, who had come from his native land, Germany, a boy, and who had grown rich in the fur trade, formed what is known as the Pacific Fur Company. After some difficulty, an extensive establishment, for the center of trade with the Indians and as a store for the sale of such goods as the trappers and hunters would buy, was opened at the mouth of the Columbia river, in what is now the young state of Washington. On the shores of the estuary, connected with the waters of the Pacific, it was possible to transport much of the heavy material and goods by sea. Accord- ingly an expedition was fitted out to go round the Horn, the vessel carrying it being the good ship Tonquin. It was determined, at the same time, to send another party across the continent for the pur- pose of exploring the country and seeking out proper sites for trading posts, as well as to make arrangements for trade with the Indians. This latter was to follow partially in the path of the Lewis and Clark expedition, viz: up the Missouri river. With the misfortunes of the expedition by ocean this history has nothing to do.

Of the land party it is recorded that after con-

siderable expense and trouble, Wilson Price Hunt, one of the principal partners in the company, gathered together a mixed body of men, some Canadian voyageurs, some Indian traders, some wild adventurous spirits who only cared for the excitement of the trip, and with this following pushed out into the wilderness. He left Mack- inaw, where he had done the most of his recruit- ing, August 12, 1810, took the usual route by Green Bay, Fox and Wisconsin rivers to Prairie du Chien and thence down the Mississippi to St. Louis, where the party landed September 3rd. At that place the little party was enlarged by the addition of some hunters and boatsmen of a more sturdy, reliable type than the French Canadians, of whom the greater part of the force was made up. Octo- ber 20th the expedition pushed out on its journey into the known and unknown dangers that were before them, and by the 16th of November they had reached a point at the mouth of the Nodaway river about four hundred and fifty miles above St. Louis. Here they remained all winter. In the spring, being recruited, they proceeded in their for- ward movement. On the 12th of June the party reached a village of the Arickaree Indians, which was within the bounds of what is now North Dakota, being between the forty-sixth and forty-seventh de- grees of north latitude, and on the banks of the Mis- souri river. This village, to quote the words of Washington Irving, "was divided into two portions about eighty yards apart, being inhabited by two distinct bands. The whole extended about three- quarters of a mile along the river bank, and was composed of conical lodges, that looked like so many little hillocks, being wooden frames intertwined with osier, and covered with earth. The plain beyond the village swept up into hills of considerable height, but the whole country was nearly destitute of trees. While they were regarding the village they beheld a singular fleet coming down the river. It consisted of a number of canoes, each made of a single buffalo hide stretched on sticks, so as to form a kind of cir- cular trough. Each one was navigated by a single squaw, who knelt on the bottom and paddled, towing after her frail bark a bundle of floating wood in- tended for firing." At this village the expedition remained a short time and traded with the Indians. They procured horses here of the Arickarees and de- parted at first northwest, but soon turned southwest to avoid the country of the Blackfeet. On the 23d of July they reached what they called the banks of the Big river. Here they rested again but soon

COMPENDIUM OF HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY.

passed on into what is now probably South Dakota, and thus their connection with the future state of North Dakota ceased. The full history of this un- fortunate expedition and their fruitless efforts to- ward upbuilding a rival fur company in opposition to the others already in existence, is given at length in Washington Irving's "Astoria."

MAJOR STEPHEN H. LONG'S EXPEDITION.

The interesting information brought back by the expedition under Clarke and Lewis, relating to the tributaries of the Missouri river, the adjacent lands and of the Rocky mountains, and also that of Gov- ernor Lewis Cass through the northeastern part of Minnesota, induced the government of the United States to send out another expedition for the pur- pose of exploring the valley of the Minnesota river and the country along the Red river of the North.

Major Stephen H. Long was in command of this party, which started in the summer of 1823. At- tached to the force were Thomas Say, zoologist and antiquarian ; William H. Keating, mineralogist, geol- ogist and historian ; and Samuel Seymour, landscape painter and designer. Late at night, on the 2nd of July, they reached Mendota, opposite Fort Snelling, Minnesota. After a cordial reception by the garri- son and the officers at that post, on the afternoon of the 9th of July they commenced the exploration of the valley of the Minnesota river. Joseph Renville, a Bois Brule, or half breed, after whom one of the counties of Minnesota is named, Joseph Snelling, son of the commandant of the fort, and Beltrami, an Italian refugee, were joined to the expedition at this point. To ensure a more accurate survey of the re- gion part of the force proceeded by land, while the other portion embarked in canoes and moved by the water route. On the 14th both detachments joined and all proceeded together by land, on the south side of the river. On the 22nd they reached Big Stone Lake, which is considered the head of the Minnesota river. They followed the bed of a dried up stream for three miles, and found themselves on Lake Tra- verse. This latter body of water is the head of the Red river of the North, and the expedition was im- pressed with the idea that thus in sight lay the sources of two considerable rivers, one of which emptied, through the Mississippi, into the Gulf of

Mexico, and the other, through Lake Winnipeg, into Hudson's Bay. Here, for the first time, the expedition fell in with a party of Dacotah or Sioux Indians, who visited them. Major Long and party visited one of the fur trading posts then under the superintendence of a Mr. Mooers. The traders of the Columbia Fur Company at Lake Traverse re- ceived the party with a salute and exhibited the most hospitable disposition. On the morning of the 5th of August, after following the crooked course of the Red river, the expedition reached Pembina, and were kindly received by Mr. Nolen, then in charge. At this point Major Long's party remained several days, spending four, of them in determining the interna- tional boundary line. A flag staff was planted, which, by a series ofobservations, was found to stand at a point in latitude forty-eight degrees, fifty-nine minutes and fifty-seven and one-third seconds north. The distance to the boundary line was measured off and an oak post fixed on it, bearing on the north side the letters G. B. for Great Britain, and on the south U. S. for the United States. On the 8th of August the United States flag was hoisted on the staff, the national salute was fired and due proclamation made that all the territory in the Red river valley south of that was part of the United States of America.

There were other expeditions to this part of the country, but these are believed to be the earliest and most important.

Shortly after the return of the Lewis and Clark expedition, the government determined to control the country and the fur traders and Indian tribes dwelling therein. With this end in view, and from year to year as circumstances seemed to demand it, forts were erected at various points, chiefly along the Missouri. The principal of these, some of which are still standing, and in full commission, were forts Clark, Stevenson, Berthold, Buford, Abraham Lin- coln, old Fort Rice, Forts Rice, Totten, Abercrombie and Ransom. At most of these troops were kept as a protection and to preserve order. Some were abandoned, but many of them are still in useful state and until late years held full garrisons. Those of them in full commission at this time of writing have enough men present to take care of them and protect the rights and property of the government therein.

CHAPTER IV.

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INDIANS; INDIAN HISTORY AND TRADITIONS.

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The dark vail that hangs over the history of the American continent prior to the advent of the white man is impenetratable. Although science has fully demonstrated the fact that this is the elder of the continents in point of upheaval from the general mass, as shown by the "grand epic writ by the hand of the Eternal upon the ever- lasting rocks," the annals of its earlier inhabit- ants are covered, perhaps forever, by the dust of oblivion. Remains found scattered up and down. throughout this broad land, speak of a people far advanced in civilization; ruins that vie in magni- tude and symmetry with those of ancient Assyria and "hundred gated Thebes." Conjecture runs rife as to who these people were, what time did they come here and from whence; but no evidence is left upon which to build the story of the van- ished race or races. Theories have been advanced by ripe scholars to account for their presence. Some, like Prescott, have imagined a connection between them and the Ten Lost Tribes of Israel, and others to the descendant of Modoc, the Welsh prince, who tradition avers came to these shores in a very early day. But the case is hopeless ; their records, if they had any, are dust, and save for the crumbling ruins of their former cities and their other vast works, they are as if they never existed.

When the European first touched our shores, with the exception of the barbaric semi-civiliza- tion of Anahuac, now Mexico, or of Peru, they found the land in the hands of a wild, nomadic race of untutored savages. To these the early ex- plorers and discoverers, always imagining that they had landed upon the shores of China and the Indies, gave the name of Indians. Along the At- lantic coast were found tribes, often hostile to one another, but all the representatives of the great Algonquin race. Further inland lived other great families, like the Iroquois, but all with the same general characteristics. The wars and migrations of these wild tribes would form an interesting chapter in the early history of our country, were space sufficient to enter upon its relation. But the story has been told elsewhere, and this work was conceived with the better idea of presenting, in detail, the annals of the settlement and develop- ment of the white people upon this part of the great Republic.

When the pious missionaries of the Church of Rome and the enterprising fur trader of Euro- pean birth first pushed their way, with incredible toil, into the forests and prairies of the great northwest, they found, in what is now the states of Minnesota and the Dakotas, a race of red men, now known by the general name of Sioux.

COMPENDIUM OF HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY.

These savages are of an entirely different group from those found throughout New England and along the banks of the Mohawk and Susque- hanna. Although they have many customs in common with the tribes that once dwelt to the east of them, yet their language and many peculiarities mark them as belonging to a distinct race. When they were first noticed by the European adventur- ers, large numbers were found about the head of Lake Superior and on throughout the lake region of what is now Minnesota and Manitoba. The name by which they call themselves, Dacatoh, sig- nifies allied or leagued. The name Sioux, often written Scioux or Soos, by which they are better known, was given them by early travelers in that country. For centuries there had raged a relent- less war between the Dacatoh and the Ojibways, or Chippewas, and these latter always designated their opponents by the name of Nadowessioux or Nadowaysioux, signifying enemies. The historian, Charlevoix, who visited the northwest in 1721, in his Annals of New France, says: "The name of Sioux, that we give these Indians, is entirely of our own making, or rather it is the last two sylla- bles of the name Nadouessioux, as many nations call them." There has been suggested by a local writer, who had excellent opportunities to learn of such matters, that the name Dacotah, instead of meaning allied, has an entirely different derivation, and one so plausible that its insertion here may not be out of place. It is as follows: The Sioux Indian, like so many of his red brethren, has for centuries been in contact with the mission- aries, many of whom were French priests, and has been associated with the Canadian voyageurs and has learned to like and speak the French language, and they take pride in speaking the "priest lan- guage," as they call it. When the Anglo-Saxon first came among these people, on his asking what tribe did he, the Indian, belong to, and where did he live, the Dakotah, probably with wide-speep- ing gesture so common to the race, answered shortly, Sioux du Coteau, meaning Sioux of the Hills. His total ignorance of the French tongue, and his having no idea of its use by a savage, led the uneducated American ,or Englishman to con- clude that it was an Indian name, and it was accordingly handed down in its present form of Dacotah.

The Dacotah was an allied race, however, they often giving themselves the name of Ocetisakowin, or the Seven Council Fires. The principal mem-

bers of this league were seven tribes or sub-divis- ions, many of whom had their home in what is now Minnesota in an early day, but who, driven back by the advancing whites, took up their resi- dence in Dakota. Some of them, however, were found dwellers on the broad plains of the Da- kotas, and had been for a long time previous to the advent of the white man.

The principal sub-nations, or tribes, who made up the league, and who held annual councils for the general good, were as follows:

The M'dewakantonwans, or those who live in the village of the Spirit Lake, evidently Mille Lac, in Minnesota, where they formerly had their resi- dence.

The Wahpekutewans, or villages of the leaf shooters, a name of uncertain derivation, but prob- ably from the shape of their stone arrow heads, which were broader and more leaf-like in shape than the others.

The Wahpetonwans, or villages in the leaves or woods, pointing to their abode being in the forests of Minnesota about the Little Rapids of the Min- nesota river. From there they were removed finally to the reservation about Big Stone lake.

The Sissitonwans, meaning villages of the marsh, a people who lived at one time on the west bank of the Mississippi river. All these four sub- tribes went, also, by the general name of Isanyati or Isantees. This name is identical with the Issati of Hennepin. The name grew out of the fact that they once lived on or near Isantandi or Knife lake, one of the Mille Lacs. It is asserted that the lake drew its name from the stone on its banks, which the primitive Indians sought to make into knives (isan).

The other tribes in the league were the Min- nekanye Wogopuwans, or the villages of those that plant by the water. The Ihankwannas, the band of the end village, a people whose name, cor- rupted by the white people into Yanktonnias or Yanktons, gave its title to the city which was the capital of the Territory for many years, Yankton. This tribe dwelt in the country between the Red river and the Missouri, and were its sole masters for some time. It was sub-divided into several sub-tribes : Hunkpatidans ; Pabaksa, or Cut Heads ; Wazikutes, or Pine Shooters, and Kiyuksa, those who divide or break the law .. According to the Indian traditions, the Hohays, or Assinboine of the country just north of Dakota, were a part of this branch.

COMPENDIUM OF HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY.

Tetonwans, who were the undisputed masters of the land west of the Missouri river, to the Rocky mountains. These, also, were closely allied with the Cheyennes and Arickarees, with whom they formed many marriage alliances. Among the divisions of this powerful branch of the Dacotalı nations were the Sicauu or Burnt Thighs, called usually the Brule Sioux, after Father Brule, a French priest ; Itazipeho, or Sans Arc, without bows; the Sihasaps, feet that are black; the Oehenonpa, two kettles or boilers; Ogallahs, wanderers in the mountains; Minne- coupoux, those who plant by the water; and the Onkpapas, they that dwell by themselves.

These people were, evidently, banded together at a very early day, for, in the history of the mis- sion at La Pointe, on Lake Superior, one of the Fathers, in writing of the Dacotahis, says: "For sixty leagues from the extremity of the Upper Lake, toward sunset ; and, as it were, in the center of the western nations, they have all united their force by a general league." This was penned al- most two and a half centuries ago.

LeSueur, an early explorer in the Sioux coun- try, in the year 1700, says that, according to the Eastern Sioux, or Scioux as he spells it, the Sioux of the West, namely, those west of the Mississippi, had, at that time, more than a thousand lodges. He goes on to say that they do not use canoes, nor cultivate the earth, or gather wild rice. They remain generally in the prairies which are between the upper Mississippi and the Missouri rivers, and live entirely by the chase. They say, generally, that they have three souls, and that after death that the soul that has done well goes to the warm country, that which has done evil to the cold, and the third guards the body.

Polygamy is common among them. They are very jealous, and sometimes fight in duel for their wives. They manage the bow admirably and have been seen several times to kill ducks on the wing. They make their lodges of a number of buffalo skins, interlaced and sewed, and carry them wher- ever they go. They are all great smokers.

This description of the savage of long ago, which is much abridged from the original, is a good picture of the Dacotah at the present.

The subject of the claim for precedence or superiority among the different bands of the Sioux is often discussed. The M'dewakantonwans thought that the mouth of the Minnesota river was just over the center of the earth, and they, there-

fore, should have special consideration, as they did occupy the gate that opens into the western world. The tribes of the Sissitonwans and Ihank- tonwans alleged that as they lived on the great water-shed of this part of the continent, from which the streams ran north, east, south and west, they must have been about the center of the earthi, and they urge this fact as entitling them to pre- cedence. It is singular that the letonwans, who were much the largest band of the Dakotas, did not appear to claim the chief place for themselves, but yielded to the pretensions of the Ihanktonwans, whom they called by the name of Wiciyela, which in 'its meaning may be regarded as about equiva- lent to "They are the people."

From a work called Dakota Dictionary, pub- lished by the United States government in 1853, under the auspices of the Smithsonian Institute, a book written by Rev. S. A. Riggs, a worthy man who labored for years as a missionary among thie Siouxs, has been gathered a few facts. Mr. Riggs says, in speaking of the Dacotah tongue:

"In the language as spoken by the different bands of those properly denominated Dakotas, some differences exist. The intercourse between the Indewakantonwans of the Mississippi and lower Minnesota, and the Wahpetonwans, Wahpe- kutes and a part of the Sissitonwans family has been so constant that but slight variations are dis- coverable in their manner of speaking. In some instances where the Wahpetonwans use d, some of the Indewakantonwans so modify the sound that it becomes t, and where the former use h, the lat- ter sometimes employ n. As a matter of course, some few words have currency in one band which are not used, perhaps, not generally known to the others; but none of the dialectical variations are of such a kind as to impede the free intercourse of thought.

"The Sissitonwans of Lake Traverse and the prairie present more differences in their speech. One of the most marked of these is their use of na for dan, the diminutive termination. As there is less frequent intercourse between them and the Isanties, their provincialisms are more numerous ; and from their connections with the Ihanktonwans of the prairie they have adopted some of their forms of speech.

"The chief peculiarity of the Ihanktonwan dialect, as compared with that of the Dakotas of the Minnesota valley, is the almost universal sub- stitution of k for h. The Tetonwan dialect exhibits

COMPENDIUM OF HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY.

more striking differences. In it the g, hard, is used for the h of the Isanties and k of the Ihank- tonwans, and rejecting d altogether, they use 1 in its stead.

"By the bands of Dakotas east of the James river, hard g is not heard except as a final in some syllables where contraction has taken place and 1 does not occur. Thus, to illustrate the foregoing, Canpahinihona, a cart or wagon, of the Wahpe- tonwans, becomes cunpunminera in the mouth of an Indewakautonwan,canpakmekma in that of an Thanktonwan, and campazmigma with a Tetonwan. Hda, to go home, of the Isanties, is kda in the Ihanktonwan dialect, and gla in the Tetonwan. Many words, too, are entirely different, as for ex- ample, isan, a knife. The Tetonwans say milla, and the Ihanktonwans, minna.

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Compendium history and biography of North Dakota; a history of early settlement, political history, and biography; reminiscences of pioneer life, Part 7

Author: Publication date: 1900 Publisher: Chicago, G.A.Ogle Number of Pages: 1432

Author:
Publication date: 1900
Publisher: Chicago, G.A.Ogle
Number of Pages: 1432