USA > North Dakota > Early history of North Dakota: essential outlines of American history > Part 18
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Occasionally as many as could be accommodated with standing room in the deck were driven up and the crew dashed a few buckets of water over them. No other measure of cleanliness was undertaken. Those put over them were sometimes fiendishily brutal, ever ready with a kick or blow, and the females were denied the protection accorded to female brutes.
The "William" and the "Wildfire" each sailed from the West Coast with 1,000
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slaves. Of these 2,000 human beings 680 were landed from the "William" and 520 from the "Wildfire." The remainder died enroute.
The boarding crew from the "Wyandotte" weighted and consigned to the deep twenty-one bodies from the "William," death's harvest of the preceding night. The "Mohawk" crew did likewise with fourteen bodies from the "Wildfire."
The passage across was usually made in from eight to ten weeks, never less, more frequently in excess. The horrors of the "middle passage" across the western ocean were surely not of such a nature as to improve the physical condition of the wretched, docile savages, for notwithstanding their supposed savagery, they were docile and reasonably tractable towards their white masters, inspired, perhaps, through fear and ignorance.
The captives cost from $5 to $25 in the first instance and were sold at from $150 to $400 after their delivery in the United States.
PART II
CHAPTER X
EARLY EXPLORING EXPEDITIONS
LONG'S YELLOWSTONE EXPEDITION-FIRST STEAMBOAT ON THE MISSOURI-THE FIRE BOAT THAT WALKS ON THE WATER-LONG'S INTERNATIONAL BOUNDARY EXPE- DITION-JOSEPH RENVILLE, GUIDE-FEASTED BY THE WAHPETONS-CHIEF WANATON-THE DEBATABLE LAND RETURN OF THE HUNT-DOG SLEDGES AND TRAVOIS-RED RIVER CARTS-ARISTOCRACY OF THE PLAINS-EXPEDITION OF MAJ. SAMUEL WOODS-OPENING OF NAVIGATION ON THE RED RIVER-ON THE MISSOURI RIVER-LOUISIANA FUR COMPANIES.
"By mutual confidence and mutual aid Great deeds are done and great discoveries made."
-Homer's Iliad. "What was only a path is now made a high road." -Martial Epigroms, Book 7, 60.
LONG'S YELLOWSTONE EXPEDITION 1819-1820
James Monroe, as President of the United States, was desirous of protect- ing the frontier from British aggression, being convinced that the whole western country took a great interest in the success of the contemplated establishment of a military post at the mouth of the Yellowstone River; that it was looked upon as a measure better calculated to preserve the peace of the frontier, secure to us the fur trade, and break up the intercourse between the British traders and the Indians, than any other which had been taken by the Government, and he ex- pressed a willingness to assume great responsibility in hastening its consummation.
Accordingly, Maj. Stephen H. Long was selected to conduct the expedition to the mouth of the Yellowstone, or to the Mandan villages, as a part of the system of measures which had for its object the extension of the fur trade. The newspapers of the period took a very rosy view of the great benefits to follow in the wake of this expedition, and were confident that it would strike at the very root of British influence. An able corps of scientific men were included in the party, several of whom accompanied him to the Red River three years later. Their instructions followed those given to Lewis and Clark, but the importance of selecting a point near the forty-ninth parallel of latitude, where a sphere of influence might be established, was strongly impressed upon them.
Great preparations were made for the expedition, and in all about eight hundred men assembled at St. Louis, and other points, but the summer faded, and was succeeded by the chilly blasts of autumn, and nothing was accomplished,
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although five steamboats were engaged to take them up the river and an expenditure of over two hundred and fifty thousand dollars was made the subject of congressional inquiry.
THE FIRST STEAMBOAT ON THE MISSOURI
A steamboat 75 feet in length, 13 feet beam, drawing 19 inches of water, was built for the engineers of this expedition, and named the Western Engineer. It was the first steamboat to enter the waters of the Missouri, and the only boat of this expedition put into requisition on that river. It reached Council Bluffs on the west side of the Missouri River, twenty-five miles above Omaha, Neb., September 17, 1819, and the engineers went into winter quarters near that point, -which became Fort Atkinson, abandoned in 1827,-but Congress failing to provide the necessary money to continue the expedition to the Yellowstone, it was diverted to the Rocky Mountains. A very large percentage of the soldiers at the winter cantonment died of scurvy.
The Missouri Gazette of May 26, 1820, contained a description in detail of the Western Engineer, which fully justifies the emotional element in Whittier's tragic verse :
"Behind the scared squaw's birch canoe The steamer smokes and raves, * * * *
The Gazette said: "The bow of this vessel exhibits the form of a huge serpent, black, and scaly, rising out of the water from under the boat, his head as high as the deck, darting forward, his mouth open, vomiting smoke, and apparently carrying the boat on his back. From under the boat at the stern issues a stream of foaming water, dashing violently along. All of the machinery is hid. Three brass field pieces mounted on wheeled carriages, stand on the deck. The boat is ascending the rapid stream at the rate of three miles an hour. Neither wind nor human hands are seen to help her, and to the eye of ignorance the illusion is complete that a monster of the deep carries her on his back, smoking with fatigue, and lashing the waters with violent exertion."
It was a scene calculated to paralyze with fear the "untutored mind" of the savage, although it bore a flag on which a white man clasped the hand of an Indian, a typical act of friendly intercourse, backed, however, by bristling guns. The Indians might well have called it the "fire boat that walks on the water," as they later did the Yellowstone. For the kind of terror it inspired it may have been the prototype of the "fighting tanks," "land battleships," or "cater- pillar tractors," made by the Holt Manufacturing Company of Peoria, Ill., for an agricultural implement to meet some of the difficulties of modern farming and used in the great European war. As appropriated by the British in Sep- tember, 1916, from a revolving turret on the monitor plan, defended by com- plete armor, a murderous fire pours forth in a perpetual stream of bullets from, as described, "a fire-belching, death-dealing monster," with almost incompre- hensible means of locomotion, propelling itself forward by a gasoline engine, passing over all manner of obstacles and entanglements, laying its own track as
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it moves along. The London Times refers to them as "unearthly monsters, cased in steel, spitting fire, and crawling laboriously, but ceaselessly, over trench, barbed wire and shell crater." The Germans, like the Indians, have a supersti- tious horror of it. "Will we ever forget," they cry, "our first sight of the thing as it came at us out of the morning mist ?"
The Rocky Mountain expedition was important, and the report interesting, but unfavorable to the development of the country for agricultural purposes, and had the effect to retard progress in that direction, and to prevent congres- sional action with reference to opening the country to settlement.
LONG'S INTERNATIONAL BOUNDARY EXPEDITION
In July, 1823, Maj. Stephen H. Long's expedition to locate the boundary between the United States and Canada at its intersection with the Red River of the North, and thence eastward to Lake Superior, reached Pembina, and finding the exact location, on the 8th of August, marked it with an oak post, raised the American flag, and fired the national salute. The entire settlement, consisting of about three hundred and fifty inhabitants, was found to be on the American side, with the exception of one log cabin, and there was great rejoicing among the people, who congratulated themselves that all the buffalo, also, were on this side. The Hudson's Bay Company, the Roman Catholic Fathers, and other distinctively British interests, finding that Pembina was in the United States, had already moved down the river to Fort Douglas, in order that they might be on undisputed British territory.
Among the reasons for the expedition, was that of investigating the extent of the fur trade in the Red River country, and the various reports originating with the conflicting trading interests, the character of the country along the northern border, then unsurveyed, and to make inquiry into the character and customs of the Indian tribes inhabiting the country.
In command of the party was Maj. Stephen H. Long, topographical engineer, U. S. A., assisted in his researches by James Edward Calhoun, astronomer and topographer; Thomas Say, zoologist and antiquary ; Samuel Seymour, landscape painter and designer ; and Prof. William H. Keating, mineralogist, geologist and historiographer, and the report prepared by the last named was from notes made by these several parties.
Col. Josiah Snelling of the Fifth United States Infantry, furnished a guard, consisting of a sergeant, two corporals, and eighteen soldiers, commanded by Lieut. St. Clair Denny, until the return of Lieut. Martin Scott, who had been connected with the expedition after it left Prairie du Chien, and who again joined it in the Red River Valley. They traveled overland from Wheeling, W. Va.
JOSEPH RENVILLE, GUIDE
After leaving Fort Snelling, Joseph Renville, who had been one of the inter- preters of Lieut. Pike's expedition, was the Sioux interpreter and guide of Major Long's. His mother was a Sioux of a prominent family, and his father a French trader. He was a man of unusual ability, speaking both French Vol. 1-10
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and English fluently, and is credited with having translated much of the New Testament from English into French, and from French into his mother tongue from hearing it read. He had no education, except the practical kind, which he was able to acquire from his surroundings. During the War of 1812, though a native of the United States, he joined the Indian allies of the British Govern- ment, and held the rank and drew the pay of a captain in the British army. He was distinguished as an active and humane officer, and was successful in repress- ing the depredations of the Sioux ; preventing them from sharing in the bloody and disgraceful acts perpetrated by other Indian allies of the British. After the war he retired on half pay, but resigned his commission in order to engage in trade on the American side; his old trading post being at the head of the Red River, which was made headquarters of the Columbia Fur Company, of which, in 1822, he was one of the leading organizers.
The Columbia Fur Company had a station on Big Stone Lake, in charge at the time of the Long expedition, of a trader of the name of Moore.
FEASTED BY THE WAHPETONS
As Major Long approached Big Stone Lake, he met a band of Wahpetons, who invited his party to their village, where they prepared a feast for him, consisting of the choicest cuts of the buffalo, and while partaking of it he explained to them the object of his visit, which seemed to interest and please them much. As they were about concluding the feast, the major was informed that another had been prepared for them, and lest he might offend, the second invitation was accepted. but before that was finished, another was ready, at which was to be served the choicest food in the power of the Indian to offer- a dog had been killed for the occasion!
In the evening Major Long returned to the skin lodge of the chief, another feast was spread, and he then received the assurance of that distinguishdu individual, Tatanka Wedhacheta, that he would send messengers to his people who were absent hunting, and whom they might encounter, directing them to supply his needs.
ENTERTAINED BY CHIEF WANATON
Wanaton of the Yanktons, was then regarded as one of the great men of the Sioux Nation. When Major Long arrived at Lake Traverse, this renowned chief killed three dogs, and gave him and his party a royal feast. A pavilion had been formed by connecting several skin lodges, carpeted with fine buffalo robes, and the air was filled with the odor of sweet grass which had been burned for its perfume. The dinner courses consisted of buffalo meat boiled with Indian turnips, the same vegetable, without meat, in buffalo grease, and, finally, the much esteemed dog meat, which, after tasting, Major Long declared he no longer wondered was regarded as a dainty dish. The feast prepared for ten was said to have been sufficient for one hundred men.
Wanaton wore moccasins, leggings of scarlet cloth, a blue breech-cloth, a shirt of painted muslin, a frock coat of fine blue cloth, with scarlet facings, but-
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toned and secured around his waist by a belt, a blue cloth hat, and a handsome Mackinaw blanket.
The next day Wanaton paid Major Long a return visit, when he wore the full habit of an Indian chief; the most prominent part of his apparel being a mantle of buffalo skins of a fine white color, decorated with tips of owl feathers, and others of various hues. His necklace had about sixty claws of the grizzly bear, and in his hair he wore nine sticks, secured by a strap of red cloth and painted vermilion, to represent the number of wounds he had received in battle. His face was painted with vermilion, and he carried, and frequently brought into use, a fan of turkey feathers.
THE DEBATABLE LAND
The Indians regarded the country between the Bois de Sioux and Turtle River debatable land, it being claimed by both the Chippewa and Sioux, and neither venturing to hunt in the region without being prepared for war, many sanguinary conflicts resulted.
Major Long had advanced only about nine miles into this region when he encountered a party of about seventy-five Sioux, who were very threatening in their attitude, but he managed to escape them and pushed on to Pembina, where he was entertained by a trader of the name of Nolen, who had been stationed there several years, and whose daughters taught in the school at St. Boniface.
Nearly all of the male inhabitants were out on a buffalo hunt, and the village was almost destitute of provisions, as was also the exploring party, but on the return of the hunters the next day there was an abundance.
RETURN OF THE HUNT
The procession consisted of 115 carts, each loaded with about eight hundred pounds of buffalo meat. There were 300 persons, including the women, in the train, and 200 horses. Twenty hunters rode abreast, firing a salute as they passed Major Long's camp.
EXTENT AND VALUE OF THE FUR TRADE
The value of the trade of the Red River region south of the boundary, annu- ally, as given to Major Long by a member of the Columbia Fur Company, was $64,877, embracing beaver, bear, buffalo, marten, otter, fisher, elk, mink, musk- rat, lynx, swan, rabbit, wolverine, buffalo cow skins, wolves, moose, and fox; buffalo being by far the greater item, amounting to 400 packs, of ten skins each, $16,000. The value of the beaver was placed at $4,000; of the fisher, $11,250; muskrat, $8,000, and lynx, $5,600. In addition to the above aggregate, there were 1,000 bags of pounded buffalo meat, or pemmican.
DOG SLEDGES AND TRAVOIS
Prior to 1800, the only means of transportation used on the plains of North Dakota was the dog sledge in winter, the Indian travois in summer, and the
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packs by men or animals. The dog sledge was much like the toboggan, flat-bot- tomed with a guard or dash-board in front, wide enough to seat one person, and long enough so he could recline if desired, as the dogs skipped along over the prairie. The driver could jump on or off when the animals were moving at high speed. A passenger, wrapped in furs, could sleep in perfect comfort as the sledge glided along from seventy-five to ninety miles a day, each sledge drawn by three dogs, with a driver to each sledge. There were frequently as high as twenty-five sledges in a train. The dogs were held in check by a strong cord attached to the leader. The dogs responded to a motion of the whip or hand, to indicate the direction, every dog knew his name, and all became attached to their masters, especially when treated kindly. They were fed a pound of pemmican a day. A trained leader was worth $20, and others from $8 to $10. Their life of use- fulness on the train ran from eight to twelve years. A dog sledge would carry about four hundred pounds.
In winter dog sledges were used for both freight and passenger service; the allowance of load per dog on a long journey being 100 pounds. One of the traders claimed that he had transported 1,000 pounds by the use of six, and, part of the way, eight dogs, from the Mandan villages on the Missouri, to the Red River posts. In summer the dogs were frequently used to carry buffalo meat from the place where the animals were killed to the points where the women were engaged in curing the meat for the trade or for the winter store.
Two poles were crossed and fastened over the shoulders of the dogs, with a piece of hide underneath them to prevent chafing; the other extremities dragging on the ground. It was secured to the animal by strings around the body, while a bar was fastened to the poles at the rear, keeping them a proper distance apart, and serving to support the meat.
The travois for use on the ponies were made in substantially the same way, except that the poles about sixteen feet long were fastened to the saddle on either side of the animal, the rear end dragging on the ground, and were capable of carrying about five hundred pounds. They were also called the traville and by some the travees.
RED RIVER CARTS
The Red River cart made its appearance in 1801, and is first mentioned in history by Alexander Henry, who gives its proportions as about four feet high, wheels with only four spokes, placed perpendicularly, without the least leaning outward. Made entirely of wood, unpainted and weather-stained, the creaking of their wheels could be heard a mile or more. They were drawn by one horse or an ox or cow.
They were used for the transportation of furs and other supplies long dis- tances, the goods for the traders being shipped in by this means, and the pro- ceeds of the chase shipped out in the same manner. From the description given by Mr. Henry, one may readily imagine the variety to be found in a train of from one hundred to five hundred Red River carts when on the summer chase, or engaged in transporting freight to and from the settlements.
These carts, capable of conveying about five pieces (450 pounds) according to Mr. Henry, or, say, from 500 to 800 pounds, were each drawn by one horse, ox,
RED RIVER CART, 1801 TO 1871
GRAND FORKS IN 1874
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or cow. Mr. Henry was doubtless thinking of the possibilities of using oxen for transportation when he exclaimed: "If we had only one horse in the Northwest, we would have less laziness, for men would not be burdened with families, and so much given to indolence and insolence."
He thus describes the first train pulling out in 1802:
"The men were up at break of day, and their horses tackled long before sun- rise, but they were not in readiness to move before I0 o'clock, when I had the curiosity to climb to the top of my house, to examine the movement and order of march. Anthony Paget, guide and second in command, led off with a cart drawn by two horses, and loaded with his own private baggage, casse-tetes (liquors), bags, and kettles. Madame Paget follows the cart with a child one year old on her back, and very merry. C. Bottineau, with two horses, and a cart loaded with 11/2 packs, his own baggage, and two young children, with kettles and other trash on the cart. Madame Bottineau with a young child on her back, was scolding and tossing it about. Joseph Dubois goes on foot, with his long pipestem and calument in hand. Madame Dubois follows her husband, carrying his tobacco pouch. Anthony Thelliere, with a cart and two horses, loaded with 11/2 packs of goods and Dubois' baggage. Anthony LaPoint, with another cart and two horses loaded with two pieces (180 pounds) of goods, and baggage belonging to Brisbois, Jessaume, and Pouliote, and kettles suspended on each side. M. Jessaume goes next to Brisbois with gun, and pipe in his mouth, puff- ing great clouds of smoke. M. Pouliote, the greatest smoker in the Northwest, has nothing but pipes and pouch. These three fellows having taken the farewell dram, lighting fresh pipes, go on, brisk and merry, playing numerous pranks. Don Severman, with a young mare, the property of M. Langlois, loaded with weeds for smoking, an old Indian bag, Madame's property, some squashes and potatoes, a small keg of fresh water and two young whelps. Next come the young horses of Livermore, drawing a traville, with his buggy, and a large worsted mask, queucate, belonging to Madame Langlois. Next appears Madame Cam- eron's young mare, kicking and rearing, and hauling a traville, which was loaded with a bag of flour and some cabbages, and a large bottle of broth. M. Langlois, who is master of the band, now comes, leading a horse that draws a traville, nicely covered with a new pointed tent, under which are lying his daughter and Mrs. Cameron, extended at full length, and very sick. This covering, or canopy, has a pretty effect. Madame Langlois now brings up the rear, following the traville with a slow step and melancholy air, attending to the wants of her daugh- ter. The rear guard consisted of a long train of dogs, twenty in number. The whole forms a string nearly a mile long."
Following the travois and the Red River cart came the stage and transporta- tion companies. The Hudson's Bay Company contracts, which gave them con- trol of much of the Canadian Northwest, were terminated in 1869, and the Mani- toba government was organized in 1870. That year the first United States land office was opened in North Dakota at Pembina. There was then no regular mail to Fort Garry, now Winnipeg, and no means of communication, except in private interests, between Manitoba and the outside world. Therefore, in the spring of 1871, the stage route was extended from Georgetown to Winnipeg, a contract having been let to Capt. Russell Blakely, of St. Paul, to carry the mail to Winni- peg, the first stage arriving at Winnipeg September 11, 1871. In 1878, the rail-
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road having been extended to Winnipeg, the stage and transportation company transferred its line to Bismarck, and opened up a daily line of stages to the Black Hills. About the same time a line of daily stages was established from Bismarck to Miles City, Mont., and another from Bismarck up the Missouri River to Fort Buford and down the river to Fort Yates, and still another from Bismarck to Ellendale. A government line of telegraph was also established from Bismarck to Fort Yates, and north to Buford and thence to Miles City and Fort Keogh.
THE ARISTOCRACY OF THE PLAINS
The aristocracy of the plains consisted of the traders, their clerks, the buffalo hunters, and their families. The traders enjoyed every luxury, and always kept the finest liquors for entertainment. They were liberal, and honest, in their way. The buffalo hunters were most improvident in dress and living. "In many instances," Mrs. Cavileer states, "their wives wore silk velvet, and the most costly fabric of other manufacture, even in the buffalo camp. The style of dress was a matter of much concern among the women. The waist was close fitting, with 'mutton-leg' sleeves, the folds of the round, plain skirt falling to within six inches of the ground. They wore moccasins, mostly beaded or embroidered with quills, and leggings. A graceful feature of their costume was a broadcloth blanket, thrown carelessly over their shoulders, while a fine silk handkerchief was so fastened over the head and face as to display most bewitching eyes to the best possible advantage. The hair was neatly braided and coiled at the back of the head. They had charming manners, with an oriental tinge." These were the nut-brown women of the plains, the wives and daughters of the traders and their clerks.
The tents or tepees were carpeted with skins, and, at times, with expensive brussels rugs, and were often exceedingly rich in drapery. In the "Bridal of Pennacook" John G. Whittier draws a fascinating picture of primitive life in the habitations of Indians like their neighbors :
"Roof of bark, and wall of pine, Through whose chinks the sunbeams shine, Tracing many a golden line On the ample floor within ; Where, upon the earth-floor stark Lay the gaudy mat of bark, With the bear's hide, rough and dark, And the red deer's skin.
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