Sword and Pen Part 36

THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER.

An interval of literary work.--Conception of another expedition.--Reflections upon the Old Explorers.--Indian rumors.--Determined to find the true source of the Great River.--Starting on the eventful journey.--Joined by his brother George and Barrett Channing Paine.--Collecting materials for the expedition.--Brainerd the first point of departure.--Through the Chippewa Country.--Seventy miles of government road.--Curiosity its own reward.--Arrival at Leech Lake.

An interval of three years, from 1878 to 1881, now elapsed in the career of Captain Glazier; years of retirement from public attention, but by no means of inactivity on his part. During this period he was engaged mainly in literary work, and in preparation for a forthcoming expedition which his ever restless brain had evolved, and which, if successful, would furnish a valuable contribution to the geography of North America.

The design of the expedition was no less than the discovery of the true source of the "Father of Waters," the mighty Mississippi; and a voyage thence, in a canoe, to its mouth in the Gulf of Mexico. It was a novel and daring project.

The idea of such an undertaking had occurred to him while on his horseback journey across the continent; of which a brief outline has been given the reader in previous chapters. He had come to a point in his onward progress which is noted for its beauty, being one of the most picturesque spots on the Mississippi, the bridge spanning the river between Iowa and Illinois, where the rock-divided stream flows grandly by under the shadow of towering bluffs. His own words best describe the impression which the scene made upon him, and the consequent birth in his brain of the most notable achievement of his life:--

"While crossing the continent on horseback from ocean to ocean, in 1876, I came to a bridge which spans the Mississippi between Rock Island, Illinois, and Davenport, Iowa. As I saw the flood of this mighty stream rolling beneath me, I turned in imagination to its discovery in 1541. I saw the renowned De Soto upon its banks and buried in its depths: I accompanied Marquette from the mouth of the Wisconsin to the mouth of the Arkansas: I followed Father Hennepin northward to St. Anthony's Falls: and I saw the daring La Salle plant the banner of France on the sh.o.r.es of the Gulf of Mexico.

"Musing thus upon the exploits of the heroic old explorers who led the way to this grand and peerless river of North America, I felt that it was a subject of much regret that although its mouth was discovered by the Chevalier La Salle nearly two hundred years ago, there was still much uncertainty as to its true source. Within the last century several distinguished explorers have attempted to find the primal reservoir of the Great River. Beltrami, Nicollett, and Schoolcraft have each in turn claimed the goal of their explorations. Numerous lakes, ponds, and rivers have from time to time enjoyed the honor of standing at the head of the 'Father of Waters.' Schoolcraft, finally, in 1832, decided upon a lake, which he named Itasca, as the fountain-head, and succeeded in securing for it the recognition of geographers and map-makers.

"Notwithstanding the fact, however, that the claim for geographical honors was very generally accorded to Schoolcraft's lake, as being the source of the Mississippi, I had frequently been told that many Indians denied that their ideal river began its course in Lake Itasca, and a.s.serted that there were other lakes and rivers above and beyond that lake, unknown to the white man, and that in them was to be found the original starting forth of the mysterious stream. These reflections led me to conclude that there was yet a rich field for exploration in the wilds of Minnesota."

Thus it was that Captain Glazier determined upon a search for this great unknown of waters. The time, however, was not yet ripe for the fulfilment of his purpose. There was promised work to be done, duties to the public waiting to be fulfilled, various literary responsibilities acc.u.mulated from the past which must be met, the projected undertaking itself to be specially prepared for;--all this to be done before he could finally turn his face towards his new purpose.

The intervening period was therefore occupied in carefully revising his literary productions. Several of his books, written hastily at the close of the war, had been published in rapid succession in a somewhat incomplete form, and the constantly increasing demand for their subsequent editions brought a public pressure to bear upon him for their needed revision which could not well be resisted.

He had also other forthcoming works on his hands, which he was anxious should be put into form before he again launched himself upon the sea of uncertain ventures. In order to collect additional material for his book upon the "Peculiarities of American Cities" it was necessary that he should make an extensive traveling tour; consequently, a considerable portion of this time was spent in visiting the leading cities of the United States and Canada. Adding to all this the necessary preparatory labor attending his contemplated voyage in search of the true source of the Mississippi, and it will be seen that the years elapsing between his journey from ocean to ocean and his latest expedition were actively and well employed.

At length, however, all his tasks were accomplished, and the month of May, 1881, found him stopping for a few days at Cleveland, Ohio, in his journey westward from New York. Leaving Cleveland on the first day of June, he proceeded to Chicago, and without further tarrying went from that city directly to St. Paul, Minnesota, intending to make this the first point for gathering his forces and collecting the material needed for his coming exploration. Here he was joined by his brother George and Barrett Channing Paine, of Indianapolis, Indiana. The month of June was spent at St. Paul in collecting tents, blankets, guns, ammunition, fis.h.i.+ng tackle and all the various paraphernalia necessary for a six weeks' sojourn in the northern wilderness.

Finally, all arrangements being completed, the party left St. Paul on the morning of July the fourth, to go to Brainerd, about a hundred miles above St. Paul, which was to be the point of immediate departure for Leech Lake and thence to Lake Itasca. Brief stoppages were made at Minneapolis, Monticello, St. Cloud and Little Falls on their way up the river, until Brainerd was reached July the seventh.

Brainerd is an enterprising little village at the point where the Northern Pacific Railroad crosses the Mississippi, near the boundary of the Chippewa Indian Reservation, and is the nearest point, of any consequence, to Lake Itasca. Here Captain Glazier stopped for some days that he might further inform himself upon the topography of the country, in order to decide on the most feasible route to his destination, and also to provide such supplies of food as were necessary. After consulting maps it was concluded that although Schoolcraft and others had found Itasca by going up the river through Lakes Winnibegos.h.i.+sh, Ca.s.s and Bemidji, the most direct course would be by way of Leech Lake and the Kabekanka River. It was therefore decided to take wagon conveyance to Leech Lake over what is known in Northern Minnesota as the Government Road. This road stretches for seventy miles through trackless pine forests and almost impenetrable underbrush, the only habitations to be seen along its line being the half-way houses erected for the accommodation of teamsters, who are engaged in hauling government supplies, and the occasional wigwams of wandering Indians. It was opened in 1856, by James Macaboy, for the convenience of Indian agents and the fur trade.

At length, at eight o'clock on the bright, summer morning of Tuesday, July the twelfth, Captain Glazier and his companions, fully equipped, and with a driver celebrated for his knowledge of frontier life, began their long and toilsome wagon journey. A ride of between three and four hours brought them to Gull Lake, where a halt was proposed and made for rest and refreshment.

This lake was for many years the home and headquarters of the noted Chippewa chief, Hole-in-the-day, and has been the scene of many sanguinary struggles between his braves and those of the equally noted Sioux chief, Little Crow. The ruins of a block-house, remains of wigwams, and a few scattered graves are all that is now left to tell the story of its aboriginal conflicts. A family of four persons living in a log-house form the white population of the place. Reuben Gray, the genial patriarch who presides over this solitary household in the wilderness, delights in the t.i.tle of landlord, and his hotel (by courtesy) has become somewhat famous as one of the pioneer half-way houses between Brainerd and Leech Lake.

After resting for a while and doing ample justice to the appetizing dinner which was set before them, our travelers resumed their journey.

Pine River was their evening destination, and at five o'clock they reached the ranche of George Barclay, the only white habitation to be found between their last resting-place and Leech Lake. Here they were most agreeably surprised to find very good accommodation for both man and beast.

An excellent breakfast the next morning, with the fair prospect of reaching by evening the first terminal point of their journey, put the travelers in exuberant spirits for the day, and nothing but jolting over one of the roughest roads ever encountered by them could have lessened their enjoyment of the occasion. A short stop was made for luncheon at Fourteen Mile Lake, and this being their first meal in the open air they were enabled, together with the experience thus far gained in their journeying, to gauge more accurately their supply of rations. It was readily discovered that they would need at least a third more provisions for their expedition than would be required for the ordinary occupations of in-door life; and it was at once decided to provide an additional supply of bacon and dried meats before leaving Leech Lake.

After luncheon the Captain's brother and Mr. Paine took a bath in the lake, while he himself found amus.e.m.e.nt in duck-shooting and in chatting with some straggling Chippewas, who were about launching their canoes for a six weeks' hunting and fis.h.i.+ng excursion. It happened that Captain Glazier had never before seen birch bark canoes, and they were therefore regarded by him with considerable interest, their use in the future being indispensable to the success of his undertaking. Now the Captain possesses, in common with most men of adventurous spirit, a characteristic desire to get at the bottom facts of everything, and this curiosity here caused him a laughable mishap; for, the better to examine it, he stepped into one of the canoes, when, from want of experience in balancing himself in so light a vessel, he was precipitated into the lake, much to his own discomfort but greatly to the amus.e.m.e.nt of the spectators.

Firmly resolved upon more caution in the future, the Captain and his companions pursued their journey towards Leech Lake, which was reached at four o'clock in the afternoon.

CHAPTER x.x.xVII.

HOME OF THE CHIPPEWAS.

An embryonic red man.--A primitive hotel.--An unkempt inhabitant of the forest.--Leech Lake.--Major Ruffe's arrival.--White Cloud.--Paul Beaulieu and his theory about the source of the Mississippi.--Che-no-wa-ge-sic.--Studying Indian manners and customs.--Dining with Indian royalty.--Chippewa hospitality.--How the wife of an Indian Chief entertains.--Souvenir of Flat Mouth.--Return of Che-no-wa-ge-sic.--A council held.--An Indian speech.--"No White Man has yet seen the head of the Father of Waters."--Voyage of exploration.--Launching the canoes.

Upon the arrival of the travelers at Leech Lake their first glimpse of the embryonic red man was a little fellow of about six years, who ran out of a wigwam, brandis.h.i.+ng a bow in one hand, and carrying arrows in the other. He was very far from being warlike, however, for with the first glance at his white brothers he suddenly disappeared in the bushes. A little further on they came to a log-cabin, over the door of which was nailed a primitive pine board, bearing the inscription--"Hotel."

Here they were received by a rough-looking man with long hair and unkempt beard, wearing, besides one other garment, a pair of pants made from a red blanket. The surroundings were certainly not inviting, and a closer inspection of the squalid accommodation did not lead them to form any more favorable opinion. However, travelers cannot always be choosers, and they really fared much better than they had expected, dining very agreeably on fresh fish and vegetables; breakfast the next morning being selected from the same simple bill of fare, varied only by the addition of "flap-jacks." In default of habitable beds their hammocks were swung from the rafters of the loft.

Leech Lake is one of the most irregularly shaped bodies of water that can be imagined. It has no well-defined form, being neither oval nor circular, but rather a combination of curves and varied outlines made by peninsulas and bays, of which only a map could convey any accurate idea.

Ten islands are found upon its surface, and seven rivers and creeks enter it from various directions. It extends not less than twenty miles from North to South, and a still greater distance from East to West, with a coast line of over four hundred miles. It was for many years the seat of the Chippewa Indian Agency, but is now consolidated with the White Earth and Red Lake agencies. Major C. A. Ruffe is at present agent of the three departments, with headquarters at White Earth. The village consists of some half dozen government buildings, as many log-cabins, and about twenty or thirty wigwams scattered here and there along the sh.o.r.e of one of the arms of the lake.

The day after the arrival of Captain Glazier's party, the agency was thrown into a state of excitement by the announcement that Major Ruffe was on his way to Lake Winnibegos.h.i.+sh by way of Leech Lake. The Major came the next day, accompanied by Captain Taylor of St. Cloud, one of the pioneer surveyors of Minnesota; Paul Beaulieu, the veteran government interpreter, and White Cloud, the present chief of the Mississippi Indians, who succeeded Hole-in-the-day, the latter having been killed some time before by one of the Leech Lake band.

Paul Beaulieu, the half-breed interpreter to Major Ruffe, possesses a fund of information concerning the Upper Mississippi which cannot be ignored by those who are in pursuit of its mysterious source, and Captain Glazier considered himself most fortunate in meeting him before his departure for Lake Itasca. Beaulieu deserves more than a pa.s.sing mention, as he is a man of wide experience, and is well known throughout Minnesota, and, in some circles, throughout the country. He was born at Mackinaw, while General Sibley was stationed there in the interest of the American Fur Company, of which John Jacob Astor was then the head.

His father was a Frenchman and his mother an Indian. He received an English education, partly in the government school of Mackinaw, and partly at Montreal. On leaving school he was employed by the Fur Company, and sent all over the United States from the St. Lawrence to Lower California. He crossed the continent with the Stevens party on the first Northern Pacific survey, and rendered such valuable services that he was presented with a testimonial in recognition of his efficiency.

Beaulieu had a theory of his own regarding the source of the Mississippi, based upon the stories of the Chippewas and other Indians of his acquaintance. In conversation with Captain Glazier upon the subject he said that to the west of Lake Itasca there was another lake, the outlet of which united with the stream from the former, and which contributed a much larger volume of water at its junction with the Mississippi than the outlet of Lake Itasca. He therefore a.s.sumed that this nameless and almost unknown lake was the true source of the Mississippi.

In corroboration of the Beaulieu theory Major Ruffe said that he had heard the same opinion expressed by a number of old and reliable Indian voyagers. It will thus be seen that there was a great diversity of sentiment among the most trustworthy authorities as to the actual source of the Great River.

Captain Glazier was greatly exercised on finding that his arrival at Leech Lake was at a season when the local band of Indians, the Pillagers, as they are called, were away upon their annual hunting and fis.h.i.+ng excursion. Their absence from the agency was a serious obstacle in the way of immediate further progress, for the reason that, being compelled to take the final step in their expedition to the source of the Mississippi from this point, it was important that they should complete their equipment by securing an interpreter, reliable guides and birch bark canoes.

"Find Rev. Edwin Benedict as soon as you reach Leech Lake" was the last injunction Captain Glazier received on leaving Brainerd. Mr. Benedict is Post Missionary, and one of the five representatives of the Episcopal Church on the Chippewa Reservation, holding his commission from Bishop Whipple of Minnesota. With this genial gentleman, Captain Glazier spent the greater part of his time while waiting at the Agency, when not engaged in preparations for the voyage. The courtesy of a semi-civilized bed, and the convenience of a table, with pens, ink and paper, were luxuries to be appreciated and not readily forgotten.

Conversations with Mr. Benedict and with Flat Mouth, chief of the Chippewas, developed the unexpected fact that there was but one Indian in the Chippewa country who had actually traversed the region which the Captain and his party were about to explore, and that he was then visiting some friends near Lake Winnibegos.h.i.+sh, and was not expected to return until the following Sat.u.r.day, some three days off.

Satisfied that Che-no-wa-ge-sic, the Chippewa brave referred to, would prove indispensable to the success of his expedition, Captain Glazier decided to await his return to the Agency. While thus detained the Captain and his friends found themselves indebted to Major Ruffe for his untiring efforts to relieve the monotony of their sojourn, and to render their condition as agreeable as possible while within his sovereign borders.

As an important part of Captain Glazier's purpose in his Mississippi expedition was to study the manners and customs of the people in the several portions of the country along its banks, he took advantage of his present detention to inquire into the habits and traits of the Indians with whom he now came in daily contact. Some extracts from his private diary, graphically portraying the characteristics which impressed him, are here especially interesting, as evidence of a certain power of philosophic reflection and inductive reasoning unusual in the mind of one so given to the excitement of an active, enterprising life as was Captain Glazier, who as soldier, author, and explorer certainly allowed himself little rest for the quiet abstractions of the student.

"Through conversations with Major Ruffe I learned much of the pioneer history of the post, and the attempts to civilize the Pillagers, as the Leech Lake Indians are named. This band appears to have separated from the other Chippewas at an early day, and to have taken upon themselves the duty of defending this portion of the Chippewa frontier. They 'pa.s.sed armed before their brethren' in their march westward. Their geographical position was one which required them to a.s.sume great responsibilities, and in the defence of their chosen frontier they have distinguished themselves as brave and active warriors. Many acts of intrepidity are related of them which would be recorded with admiration had white men been the actors. Perfectly versed in the arts of the forest they have gained many victories over that powerful a.s.semblage of tribes known as the Sioux. With fewer numbers the Chippewas have never hesitated to fall upon their enemies, and have defeated and routed them with a valor and resolution which in any period of written warfare would have been stamped as heroic.

"It is not easy on the part of the government to repress the feelings of hostility which have so long existed between the respective tribes, and to convince them that they have lived into an age when milder maxims furnish the basis of wise action....

"The domestic manners and habits of a people whose position is so adverse to improvement could hardly be expected to present anything strikingly different from other erratic bands of the Northwest. There is indeed a remarkable conformity in the external habits of all our Northern Indians. The necessity of changing their camps often to procure game or fish, the want of domestic animals, the general dependence on wild rice, and the custom of journeying in canoes has produced a general uniformity of life, and it is emphatically a life of want and vicissitude. There is a perpetual change between action and inanity in the mind which is a striking peculiarity of the savage state, and there is such a general want of forecast that most of their misfortunes and hards.h.i.+ps, in war and peace, come unexpectedly."...

Our explorers were agreeably surprised one day during their stay at Leech Lake by an invitation from Flat Mouth, the present ruler of the Pillagers, to take dinner with him. Captain Glazier accepted the invitation with pleasure, for it so happened that although he had for many years been much among the natives of the forest he had never before had an opportunity to dine with Indian royalty.

Flat Mouth is a descendant of Aish-ki-bug-e-koszh, the most famous of all the Chippewa chiefs. He is stalwart in appearance and endowed with marked talents, and well deserves the t.i.tle of "chief." At the appointed time for the dinner, Captain Glazier, accompanied by his brother and Mr.

Paine, went to his residence. They found him living in a comfortable log-house of two rooms, well floored and roofed, with two small gla.s.s windows. A plain board table stood in the centre of the front room, upon which the dinner was served. Pine board benches were placed upon each side of the table and at the ends, and they followed the example of the host in sitting down. Five other persons were admitted to the meal, the wife of Flat Mouth, White Cloud, chief of the Mississippis, and three Chippewa sub-chiefs. The wife of Flat Mouth sat near him and poured out the tea, but ate or drank nothing herself. Tea-cups, spoons, plates, knives and forks, all of plain manufacture, were carefully arranged, the number corresponding with the guests. A fine mess of ba.s.s and white fish cut up and very palatably broiled filled a dish in the centre of the table, from which the host helped his guests. Birch bark salt cellars containing pepper and salt mixed allowed each one to season his fish with both or neither. A dish of blue berries picked on the sh.o.r.e of the lake completed the repast.

While they were eating, the room became filled with Indians, apparently the relatives and friends of Flat Mouth, and after the dinner was over, speech-making being in order, White Cloud arose, and, a.s.suming an oratorical att.i.tude, addressed Captain Glazier:

He expressed regret that white men had so long been in ignorance of the source of the Mississippi, and said that although he had not himself seen the head of the Great River, there were many braves of his tribe who were familiar with its location. He hoped that his white brother had come thoroughly prepared to explore the country beyond Lake Itasca, and that he would not return to his friends until he had found the true source of the "Father of Waters." Continuing he said: "I am told that Che-no-wa-ge-sic, the Chippewa warrior, will accompany you. He is a great hunter and a faithful guide. He can supply you with game and paddle your canoe. The Chippewas are your friends, and will give you shelter in their wigwams."

After he had finished, Flat Mouth presented Captain Glazier with a beautifully beaded pipe and tobacco pouch, the work of his favorite squaw, and expressed an earnest hope for the complete success of the expedition. Although Captain Glazier needed nothing to keep the memory of this novel dinner fresh in his mind, he will always treasure this souvenir of Flat Mouth among the many pleasant mementos of his visit to Leech Lake.

Here again, in referring to this dinner and those whom he met there, Captain Glazier's diary furnishes one of his vivid pen-pictures in an admirably conceived criticism upon the mental attributes and general character of the distinguished Indian chief, White Cloud, the orator of the feast.