THE BOOK OF THE INDIANS OF NORTH AMERICA: ILLUSTRATING THEIR MANNERS, CUSTOMS, AND PRESENT STATE EDITED BY JOHN FROST, L. L. D. AUTHOR OF THE "BOOK OF THE NAVY," "BOOK OF THE ARMY," ie.. See. HARTFORD: PUBLISHED BY W. J. HAMERSLEY .no 53 Entered, according' to the Act of Congress, in the year 1 844 by D. APPLETON & CO., in the office of the clerk of the district court of the United States in and for the southern district of New York. PREFACE. THE intention of the following work is to furnish a correct view of the present state of the Aborigines of this country ; and especially of the wild Indians who are comparatively ignorant of the white man and his arts of civilization. The form chosen is that of familiar conversation between an in telligent old hunter and a circle of young friends. The au thorities, chiefly relied on, are Mr. Catlin, Prince Maximilian of Wied and other recent travellers, with occasional anec dotes and illustrations from older writers. The embellish ments are taken chiefly from the fresh and graphic pictures of Mr. Catlin and Prince Maximilian. Three of the draw ings viz. : The Frontispiece, the Indian Buffalo Hunt and Mr. Char don's Adventure were furnished by that accom plished artist Mr. F. 0. C. Barley, after Mr. Catlin's designs. The information contained in the volume having been Wholly derived from authentic sources, it is believed that it will prove useful and acceptable to the reading public. (5) CONTENTS. CHAPTER I. THE subject introduced ---.--.. 13 CHAPTER II. Some account of the fur trade The lakes, rivers, and mountains of North America Indian hunters Courreurs des Bois Voyageurs North men Comers and goers A decharge A portage Trappers Beaver hunting Adventure with a bear Peltries and furs Deer hunting A cache Fur companies- Bisons, bears, deer, wolves, badgers, beavers^ minxes, martins, foxes, racoons, lynxes, hares, rabbits, musk-rats, squirrels, and stoats - - - -- - -'- - - -19 CHAPTER III. Difficulty in ascertaining who were the Aborigines of America, and from whence they came Various opinions on the subject Catlin's publication on the " Manners, Customs, and Condition of the North American Indians" Census of the different tribes Locality of the Crows, Blackfeet, Sioux, and Creeks The names of some of the Indian chiefs and remarkable characters 33 CHAPTER IV. Wigwams Crow Indians quitting an encampment Villages Food Pomme blanche Pemican Marrow fat Fruit Dress Full dress of Mah-to-toh-pa, "the four bears" Bows and arrows, quivers, tomahawks, spears, shields, and scalping knives Scalping War clubs Indian warfare Warfare of white men Language Names of the sun and moon, a buffalo, and the Great Spirit, in different languages Indian method of signing treaties -t :- ' = - " - - - - - 48 CHAPTER V. The history of Black Hawk Na-na-ma-kee's dream Black Hawk's birth place Becomes a brave Fights against the vii viii CONTENTS. Osages His father killed Destroys forty lodges of the Osages **& Sac chiefs go to St. Louis Strong drink given them, and they sign away land of the Sac's nation American whites de ceive the Sacs, and Black Hawk joins the British His battles He returns home Kee-o-kuk made chief Black Hawk again goes to war He gives himself up to the Americans A buffalo hunt -- 4 v>. . -.' . 64 CHAPTER VI. Valleys and prairies A flat prairie Bluffs and square hills Floyd's grave Blackbird's grave Fruit grounds in prairie Prairie la Crosse Prairie du Chien Couteau des Prairies Missouri prairies Swan Lake, River rice grounds Lover's leap Salt meadows Savannahs Red Pipe-stone quarry - 79 CHAPTER VII. The Seminole Indians King of the Red Hills Oceola A coun cil Agreement to an exchange of land Oceola refuses to sign the contract Made prisoner, and afterwards set at liberty His message to the whites Made prisoner again His death Ad ventures of Nikkanochee, prince of Econchatti 93 CHAPTER VIII. The religion of the Red Indians Medicine, or Mystery Rain making Marriage Flattening the heads of children Cradles Practice of shaving the head Exposure of the aged The Leaping Rock Catching white fish Fasts, feasts, and sacri fices Runners Indian squaws Pipe smoking Dog feast A common life scene among the Indians Smoking a shield Pipes Pipe of peace Indian burial Resting-place for the dead - - - * ,. ^- * : ;;t - ^ . . 104 CHAPTER IX. Anecdotes of the Red Indians Indian observation and sagacity Indian conscientiousness Indian honesty Indian ignorance Indian shrewdness Indian cunning and deceit Indian hero ism Adventures of an American trapper - - - 119 CHAPTER X. Buffaloes Bisons A grand surround of buffaloes A buffalo wal low Bears Adventure with a grizzly bear Anecdote of a CONTENTS. ix common bear Wild horses Catching horses with the laso *** Creasing horses Cougers Wolves White, black, and clouded wolves Deer Moose deer Elk Common deer The wapiti deer Black-tailed deer Cariboo Mountain sheep Prairie dogs Musk rats Taking musk rats Fearful adventure of the prairie on fire 134 CHAPTER XI. Games Ball play among the Choctaws Ball play by the women of the Prairie du Chien Horsemanship Foot races Canoe races Wrestling The game of tchung-kee among the Man- dans Archery The game of the arrow Swimming Mode of swimming customary among the Indians Prank of the Min- ataree children on the Knife river Buffalo dance The poor Indian woman - - - 150 CHAPTER XII. Musical instruments Whistles, lutes, rattles, and drums War whistle and deer-skin flute The beggars' dance The doctors' dance The pipe dance The black drink The green corn dance The dog dance The discovery dance The slave dance The scalp dance The sham scalp dance The eagle dance The snow shoe dance The straw dance The bear dance The war dance Sham fight - 167 CHAPTER XIII. The mystery lodge of the Mandans, to appease the good and evil spirits The Great Canoe The unknown man from the prairie The old mystery man -The bull dance Preparing young warriors for hardships and dangers The tortures inflicted The self-possession of the young men The last run Fainting and recovery of the tortured Indians The speech of Logan, an Indian chief Address of the Seneca Indians to Governor Clinton Address of the chiefs of the same tribe Speech of a warrior Speech of Red Jacket ------ 181 CHAPTER XIV. Poisoned arrows Poison, making The deadly power of the poison Council of war Enlisting Preparation for battle Indian mode of fighting A war party A night march A surprise A village attacked The onset The resistance The retreat False alarms Camanchee war party Their x CONTENDS. chief in full dress The wounded Crow warriors The mystery * man rHis useless attempts to restore the wounded Death of Oceola, the Seminole chief The death of a Christian - - 195 CHAPTER XV. A treaty of peace The tomahawk buried Pipe of peace dance " Assinneboin chief Tribes who shave their heads Turning in the toes in walking- Names of women Different modes of building lodges Buffalo hunting in wolves' skins Begging horses Medicine rock Hatching thunder Captain Smith saved by a chief's daughter Horned frogs Mosquitoes Salt water brooks ....._. 207 CHAPTER XVI. Dreadful ravages of the small pox Loss sustained by the Minetereers, Blackfeet, Crows, and Crees The Mandan people all destroyed Death of Mah-to-toh-pa, "the four bears" Attempts to introduce vaccination Narrative of Mr Catlin John Eliot, the first Protestant missionary among the Red Indians His progress and death Brainerd ; his Christian course and death Character given of him Letter of the Oneida chiefs Speech of Little Turtle Missionary trials Slaughter of the Christian Indians Two Chippeways visit England - 220 CHAPTER XVII. Trade of the Indians Visit of Mr Catlin to the Pawnees The Council Exchange of Prisoners ------ 247 CHAPTER XVIII. Buffalo Hunt American Board of Missions The United Brethren The Church Missionary Society The Wesleyan Missionary Society The American Presbyterian Board of Missions The American Baptist Missions The American Methodist Mission ary Society Stations, schools, missionaries, communicants, scholars, etc. Missionary relations Conclusion. - 257 THE INDIANS OF NORTH AMERICA. CHAPTER I. The subject introduced. ~~^ N a wild and gusty day, Austin and Brian Edwards were return ing home from a visit to their uncle, who lived at a distance of four or five miles from their father's dwell ing, when the wind which was before suffi ciently high, rose suddenly ; and the hea vens, which had for some hours been overclouded, grew darker, with every appearance of an approaching storm. Brian was for returning back ; but to this, Austin would by no means consent. Austin was twelve years of age, and Brian about two years younger ; their brother Basil, who was not with them, had hardly completed his sixth year. 2 13 14 A LAND STORM. The three brothers, though unlike in some things for Austin was daring, Brian fearful, and Basil affectionate very closely resembled each other in their love of books and wonderful relations. What one read, the other would read ; and what one had learned, the other wished to know. Louder and louder blew the wind, and darker and darker grew the sky, and already had a distant flash and growling thunder announced the coming storm, when the two brothers arrived at the rocky eminence where, though the wood was above them, the river rolled nearly a hundred fathom below. Some years before, a slip of ground jiad taken place at no great distance from the spot, when a mass of earth, amounting to well nigh half an acre, with the oak trees that grew upon it, slid down all at once towards the river. The rugged rent occasioned by the slip of earth, the great height of the road above the river, the rude rocks that here and there presented themselves, and the giant oaks of the wood frowning on the dangerous path, gave it a character at once highly picturesque and fearful. Austin, notwithstanding the loud blustering of the wind, and the remonstrance of his brother to hasten on, made a momen tary pause to enjoy the scene. In a short time the two boys had approached the spot where a low, jutting rock of red sand-stone, around which the roots of a large tree were seen clinging, narrowed the path ; so that there was only the space of a few feet be tween the base of the rock and an abrupt and fearful precipice Austin was looking down on the river, and Brian was holding his cap to prevent it being blown from his head, when, between the fitful blasts, a loud voice, or rather a cry, was heard, " Stop, boys, stop ! Come not a foot farther on peril of your lives !" Austin and Brian stood still, neither knowing whence came the cry, nor what was the danger that threatened them ; they were, however, soon sensible of the latter, for the rushing winds swept through the wood with a louder roar, and all at once, part of the THE HUNTER'S COTTAGE. 15 red sand-stone rock gave way with the giant oak whose roots were wrapped round it, when the massy ruin, with a fearful crash, fell headlong across the path, and right over the precipice. Brian trembled with affright, and Austin turned pale. In another minute, an active man, somewhat in years, habited as a shepherd, with a crook in his hand, was seen making his way with great agility over such parts of the fallen rock as had not cleared the precipice. It was he who had given the two brothers such timely notice of their danger, and thereby saved their lives. Austin was about to thank him, but hardly had he began to speak, when the stranger stopped him. " Thank God, my young friends/' said he, with much emotion, " and not me ; for we are all in his hands. It is his goodness that has preserved you." In a little time the stranger had led Austin and Brian, talk ing kindly to them all the way, to his comfortable cottage, which stood at no great distance from the bottom of the wood. Scarcely had they seated themselves in the cottage, when the storm came on full of fury. As flash after flash seemed to rend the dark clouds, and clap after clap shook the walls of the cottage, the rain came down like a deluge, and the two boys were thakful to find themselves in so comfortable a shelter. Brian was too fearful to pay attention to any thing except the storm ; but it did not escape the eye of Austin, that the cottage walls were hung round with lances, bows and arrows, quivers, tomahawks, and other weapons of Indian warfare ; together with pouches girdles, and gar ments of great beauty, such as he had never before seen. A sight so unexpected both astonished and pleased him, and made a deep impression on his mind. It was some time before the storm had spent its rage, so that the two brothers had some pleasant conversation with the stranger, who talked to them cheerfully. He did not, however fail to dwell much on the goodness of God in their preservation ; nor did he omit to urge on them to read, on their return, home, the first two verses of the forty-sixth Psalm, which 16 THE HUNTER. he said might dispose them to look upwards with thankful ness and confidence, Austin and Brian left the cottage, truly grateful for the kindness which had been showed them ; and the former felt determined it should not be his fault, if he did not, before long, make, another visit to the place. When the boys reached home, they related in glowing colors, and with breathless haste, the adventure which had befallen them. Brian dwelt on the black clouds, the vivid lightning, and the rolling thunder ; while Austin described, with startling effect, the sudden cry which had arrested their steps near the narrow path, and the dreadful crash of the red sand-stone rock, when it broke over the precipice, with the big oak tree that grew above it. " Had we not been stopped by the cry," said he, " we must, in another minute, have been dashed into a thousand pieces." He then, after recounting how kind the stranger had been to them, entered on the subject of the Indian weapons. Though the stranger who had rendered the boys so im portant a service was dressed like a shepherd, there was that in his manner so superior to the station he occupied, that Austin, being ardent and somewhat romantic in his notions, and wrought upon by the Indian weapons and dresses he had seen, thought he must be some important person in disguise. This belief he intimated with conside rable confidence, and assigned several good reasons in sup port of his opinion. Brian reminded Austin of the two verses they were to read ; and when the Bible was produced, he read aloud, " God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore will not we fear, though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea," Psa. xlvi. 1, 2. " Ay," said Austin, " we had indeed a narrow escape ; for if the mountains were not carried into the sea, the rock fell almost into the river.'* On the morrow Mr. Edwards was early on his way to THE HUNTER. 17 the cottage, to offer his best thanks, with those of Mrs. Edwards, to the stranger who had saved the lives of his children. He met him at the door, with his crook in his hand. In an interview of half an hour, Mr. Edwards learned that the cottager was the son of an English fur trader; and that, after the death of his father in North America, he had spent several years among the Indian tribes, resting in their wigwams, hunting with them, and dealing in furs ; but that, having met with an injury in his dangerous calling, he had, at last, returned to his native country. Being fond of solitude, he had resolved, having the means of following out his plans, to purchase a cottage, a small estate, and a few sheep ; he should then be employed in the open air, and doubted not that opportunities would occur, wherein he could make himself useful in the neigh borhood. There was, also, another motive that much influenced him in his plans. His mind had for some time been deeply impressed with Divine things, and he yearned for that privacy and repose, which, while it would not pre vent him from attending God's house, would allow him freely to meditate on God's holy word, which for some time had been the delight of his heart. He told Mr. Edwards, that he had lived in the cottage for some months ; and that, on entering the wood the day before, hard by the narrow path, he perceived by the swaying of the oak tree and moving of the sand-stone rock, that there was every probability of their falling : this had induced him to give that timely warning which had been a means, by the blessing of God, of preserving the young gentlemen from their danger. Mr. Edwards perceived, by the conversation and man ners of the stranger, that he was evidently a respectable char acter ; and some letters put into his hand by him, both from missionaries abroad and ministers of the gospel in England, addressed to the stranger, spoke loudly in favour of his piety. After offering him his best thanks, in a warm hearted manner, and expressing freely the pleasure it would C 2* 18 INVITATION TO THE COTTAGE. give him, if he could, in any way, act a neighbourly pan in adding to his comfort, Mr. Edwards inquired if his chil dren might be permitted to call at the cottage, to inspect the many curiosities that were there. This being readily assented to, he took his departure with a very favourable impression of his new neighbour, with whom he had so unexpectedly been made acquainted. Austin and Brian were, with some impatience, awaiting their father's return, and when they knew that the stranger who had saved their lives had actually passed years among the Indians, on the prairies and in the woods : that he had slept in their wigwams ; hunted with them, beavers, bears, and buffaloes; shared in their games; heard their wild war-whoop, and witnessed their battles, their delight was unbounded. Austin took large credit for his penetra tion in discovering that the cottager was not a common shepherd, and signified his intention of becoming thoroughly informed of all the manners and customs of the North American Indians. Nothing could have been more agreeable to the young people than this unlooked-for addition to their enjoyment. They had heard of the Esquimaux, of Negroes, Malays, New Zealanders, Chinese, Turks, and Tartars; but very little of the North American Indians. It was generally agreed, as leave had been given them to call at the cottage, that the sooner they did it the better. Little Basil was to be of the party; and it would be a difficult thing to decide which of the three brothers looked forward to the proposed interview with the greatest pleasure. Austin, Brian, and Basil, had at different times, found abundant amusement in reading of parrots, humming birds, and cocoa nuts; lions, tigers, leopards, elephants, and horned rhinocerosses ; monkeys, racoons, opossums, and sloths ; mosquitoes, lizards, snakes, and scaly crocodiles ; but these were nothing, in their estimation, compared with an account of Red Indians, bears and buffaloes, from the mouth of one who actually lived among them. INDIAN SCENERY. CHAPTER II. Some account of the fur trade The lakes, rivers, and mountains of North America Indian hunters Courreurs des Bois Voyageurs North men Comers and goers A decharge A portage Trappers Beaver hunting Adventure with a bear Peltries and furs Deer hunting A cache Fur companies Bisons, bears, deer, wolves, badgers, beavers, minxes, martins, foxes, racoons, lynxes, hares, rabbits, musk-rats, squirrels, and stoats. USTIN EDWARDS was too ardent in his pursuits not to make the intended visit, to the cottage near the wood, the continued theme of his conversation with his brothers, through the remain der of the day ; and, when he retired to rest, in his dreams he was either wan dering through the forest defenceless, having lost his tomahawk, or flying over the prairie on the back of a buffalo, amid the yelling of a thousand Red Indians. The sun was bright in the skies when the three brothers set out on their anticipated excursion. Austin was loud in praise of their kind preserver, but he could not at all under- 19 20 THE ROAD TO THE COTTAGE. stand how any one, who had been a hunter of bears and buffaloes, could quietly settle down to lead the life of a shep herd : for his part, he would have remained a hunter for ever. Brian thought the hunter had acted a wise part in coming away from so many dangers ; and little Basil, not being quite able to decide which of his two brothers was right, remained silent. As the two elder brothers wished to show Basil the place where they stood when the oak tree, and the red sand stone rock, fell over the precipice with a crash ; and as Ba sil was equally desirous to visit the spot, they went up to it. Austin helped his little brother over the broken fragments which still lay scattered over the narrow path. It was a sight that would have impressed the mind of any one ; and Brian looked up with awe to the remaining part of the rifted rock, above which the fallen oak tree had stood. Austin was very eloquent in his description of the sudden voice of the stranger, of the roaring wind as it rushed through the wood, and of the crashing tree and falling rock. Basil showed great astonishment ; and they all descended from the commanding height, full of the arresting adventure of the preceding day. When they were come within sight of the wood, Brian cried out that he could see the shepherd's cottage ; but Aus tin told him that he ought not to call the cottager a shep herd but a hunter. It was true that he had a flock of sheep, but he kept them more to employ his time than to get a living by them. For many years he had lived among the Indians, and hunted buifaloes with them ; he was, there fore, to all intents and purposes, a buffalo hunter, and ought not to be called a shepherd. This important point being settled, Brian and Basil having agreed to call him, in future, a hunter, and not a. shepherd, they walked on hastily to the cottage. In five minutes after, the hunter, for such by Austin Ed wards' express requirements he must, in future, be called, was showing and explaining to his delighted young visitors INTERIOR OF THE HUNTER'S COTTAGE. 21 the Indian curiosities which hung around the walls of his cottage, together with others which he kept with greater care. These latter were principally calumets, or peace- pipes ; mocassins, or Indian shoes ; war-eagle dresses, man tles, necklaces, shields, belts, pouches, and war clubs of superior workmanship. There was also an Indian cradle, and several rattles and musical instruments ; these altogether afforded the young people wondrous entertainment. Austin wanted to know how the Indians used their war clubs; Brian inquired how they smoked the peace-pipe ; -and little Basil was quite as anxious in his questions about a rattle, which he had taken up and was shaking to and fro. To all these inquiries the hunter gave satisfactory replies, with a promise to enter afterwards on a more full explanation. In addition to these curiosities, the young people were shown a few specimens of different kinds of furs : as those of the beaver, ermine, sable, martin, fiery fox, black fox, silver fox, and squirrel. Austin wished to know all at once, where, and in what way these fur animals were caught ; and with this end in view, he contrived to get the hunter into a conversation oh the subject. " I suppose," said he, " that you know all about beavers, and martins, and foxes, and squirrels." Hunter. I ought to know something about them, having been in my time somewhat of a Voyageur , a Courreur des bois, a Trapper, and a Freeman; but you will hardly understand these terms without some little explanation. Austin. What is a Courreur de bois ? Brian. What is a Voyageur. Basil. I want to know what a Trapper is. Hunter. Perhaps it will be better if I give you a short account of the way in which the furs of different animals are obtained, and then I can explain the terms, Voyageur, Courreur des bois, Trapper and Freeman, as well as a few other things which you may like to know. Brian. Yes, that will be the best way, dustin. Please not to let it be a short account, but a long 22 WHERE FURS COME FROM. one. Begin at the very beginning, and go on to the very end. Hunter. Well, we shall see. It has pleased God, as we read in the first chapter of the book of Genesis, to give man " dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth." The meaning of which is, no doubt, not that he may cruelly abuse them, but that he may use them for his wants and comforts, or destroy them when they annoy and injure him. The skins of animals have been used as clothing for thousands of years 1 ; and furs have become so general in dresses and orna ments, that, to obtain them, a regular trade has long been carried on. In this traffic, the uncivilized inhabitants of cold countries exchange their furs for useful articles, and comforts, and luxuries, which are only to be obtained from warmer climes and civilized people. Austin. And where do furs come from ? Hunter. Furs are usually obtained in cold countries. The ermine and the sable are procured in the most northerly parts of Europe and Asia ; but most of the furs in use come from North America. ftustin. Ay ! North America is very large, and some parts of it are very cold. Hunter. Yes. If you look at the map of North America, you will find that between the Atlantic and the Pacific Oceans the space is, in its greatest breadth, more than three thousand miles; and from north to south, the country stretches out, to say the least of it, a thousand miles more than this. The principal rivers of North America, are the Mackenzie, Missouri, Mississippi, Ohio, and St. Laurence. The Mississippi is between three and four thousand miles long. The Rocky or Stony mountains stretch themselves the whole length of the land, from north to south ; and another range of mountains, called the Apa- lachian, extends through the United States. North America abounds with lakes : Ontario and Winipeg are each near THE FUR TRADE. 23 two hundred miles long; Lakes Huron and Erie are between two and three hundred ; Michigan is four hundred, and lake Superior nearly five hundred miles long. Brian. What a length ! Nearly five hundred miles ! Why, it is more like a sea than a lake. Hunter. Well, over a great part of the space that I have mentioned, furry animals abound ; and different fur compa nies send those in their employ, to boat up the river, to sail through the lakes, to hunt wild animals, to trap beavers, and to trade with the various Indian tribes which are scattered throughout this extensive territory. Austin. Oh ! how I should like to hunt and to trade with the Indians. Hunter. Better think the matter over before you set off on such an expedition. Are you ready to sail by ship, steam-boat, and canoe ; to ride on horseback, or to trudge on foot, as the case may require ; to swim across brooks and rivers ; to wade through bogs, and swamps, and quag mires ; to live for weeks on flesh, without bread or salt to it; to lie on the cold ground; to cook your own food; and to mend your own jacket and mocassins ? Are you ready to bear hunger and thirst, heat and cold, rain and solitude ? Have you patience to bear the stings of tormenting mosqui toes ; and courage to defend your life against the grizzly bear, the buffalo, and the tomahawk of the red man, should he turn out to be an enemy ? Brian. No, no, Austin. You must not think of running into such dangers. Hunter. I will now give you a short account of the fur trade. About two hundred years ago, or more, the French made a settlement in Canada, and they soon found such advantage in obtaining the furry skins of the various animals wandering the woods and plains around them, that, after taking all they could themselves, they began to trade with the Red Indians, the original inhabitants of the coun try, who brought from great distances skins of various kinds. In a rude camp, formed of the bark of trees, these 24 COURREURS DBS BO1S. red men assembled, seated themselves in half circles, smoked their pipes, made speeches, gave and received presents, and traded with the French people for their skins. The articles given in exchange to the Indian hunters, were knives, axes, arms, kettles, blankets, and cloth : the brighter the colour of the cloth, the better the Indians were pleased. Austin. I think I can see them now. Basil. Did they smoke pipes like those we have been looking at ? Hunter. Yes ; for almost all the pipes used by the red men are made of red stone, dug out of the same quarry, called pipe-stone quarry ; but about this I will tell you some other time. One bad part of this trading system was, that the French gave the Indians but a small part of the value of their skins, besides which they charged their own articles extravagantly high ; and a still worse feature in the case was this, that they supplied the Indians with spirit uous liquors, thereby bringing about great irregularities, which the French did not fail to turn to their own account. Basil. That was too bad on the part of the French. Hunter. This system of obtaining furs was carried on for many years, when another practice sprang up, which was for such white men as had accompanied the Indians in hunting, and made themselves 'acquainted with the country, to paddle up the rivers in canoes, with a few arms and provisions, and hunt for themselves. They were absent sometimes for as much as a year, or a year and a half, and then returned with their canoes laden with rich furs. These white men were what I called Courreurs des bois, or wood- rangers. Austin. Ah ! I should like to be a Courreur des bois. Hunter. Some of these Courreurs des bois became very lawless and depraved in their habits, so that the French government enacted a law whereby no one, on pain of death, could trade in the interior of the country with the Indians without a licence. Military posts were also estab lished, to protect the trade, and to restrain the lawless VOYAGEURS NORTH-MEN. 25 rangers of the woods'. In process of time, too, fur compa nies were established ; and men, called Voyageurs, or canoe men, were employed, expressly to attend to. the canoes carrying supplies up the rivers, or bringing back cargoes of furs. Basil. Now we know what a Voyageur is. Hunter. You would hardly know me again, were you to see me dressed as a voyageur. Let me see, I should have on a striped cotton shirt, cloth trousers, a loose coat made of a blanket, with perhaps leathern leggings and deer-skin mocassins ; and then I must not forget my coloured worsted belt, my knife, and tobacco pouch. Austin. What a figure you would cut ! and yet, I dare say, such a dress is best for a voyageur. Hunter. Most of the Canadian voyageurs were good- humoured, light-hearted men, who always sang a lively strain as they dipped their oars into the waters of the lake or rolling river ; but steam-boats are now introduced, so that the voyageurs are but few. Basil. What a pity ! 1 like those voyageurs. Hunter. The voyageurs, who were out for a long period, and navigated the interior of the country, were called North-men, or Winterers; while the others had the name of Goers and Comers. Any part of a river where they could not row a laden canoe, on account of the rapid stream, they called a Decharge ; and there the goods were taken from the boats, and carried on their shoulders, while others towed the canoes up the stream : but a fall of water, where they were obliged not only to carry the goods, but also to drag the canoes on land up to the higher level, they called a Portage. Austin. We shall not forget the North-men, and Comers and Goers, nor the Decharges and Portagers. Basil. You have not told us what a Trapper is. Hunter. A Trapper is a beaver hunter. Those who hunt beavers and other animals, for any of the fur compa- D 3 26 THE BEAVER. ^ * nies, are called Trappers,; but such as hunt for themselves, take the name of Freemen. Austin. Yes, I shall remember. Please to tell us how they hunt the beavers. Hunter. Beavers build themselves houses, on the banks of creeks or small rivers, with mud, sticks, and stones, and afterwards cover them over with a coat of mud, which be comes very hard. These houses are five or six feet thick at the top ; and in one house, four old beavers, and six or eight young ones, often live together. But, besides their houses, the beavers take care to have a number of holes in the banks, under water called washes, into which they can run for shelter, should their houses be attacked. It is the business of the trappers to find out all these washes, or holes; and this they do in winter, by knocking against the ice, and judging by the sound. Over every hole, they cut out a piece of ice, big enough to get at the beaver. No sooner is the beaver-house attacked, than the animals run into THE BEAVER. their holes, the entrances of which are directly blocked up with stakes. The trappers then either take them through the holes in the ice with their hands, or haul them out with hooks fastened to the end of a pole or stick. Austin. But why is a beaver hunter called a trapper? I cannot understand that. Hunter. Because beavers are caught in great numbers in steel traps, which are set and baited on purpose for ADVENTURE WITH A BEAR. 27 Brian. Why do they not catch them in the summer ? Hunter. The fur of the beaver is in its prime in the win ter ; in the summer it is of inferior quality. Austin. Do the trappers catch many beavers ? I should think there could not be very many of them. Hunter. In one year, the Hudson's Bay Company alone, sold as many as sixty thousand beaver skins. Austin. Sixty thousand ! I did not think there were so many beavers in the world. Hunter. I will tell you an anecdote, by which you will see that hunters and trappers had need be men of courage and activity. It is said, that a trapper, of the name of Cannon, had just had the good fortune to kill a buifalo ; and BUFFALO OR BISON. as he was at a considerable distance from his camp, he cut out the tongue and some of the choice bits, made them into a parcel and slinging them on his shoulders by a strap passed round his forehead, as the voyageurs carry packages of 28 ADVENTURE WITH A BEAR. goods, set out on his way to the camp. In passing through a narrow ravine, he heard a noise behind him, and looking round, beheld, to his dismay, a grizzly bear in full pursuit, ap parently attracted by the scent of the meat. Cannon had heard so much of the strength and ferocity of this tremendous ani mal, that he never attempted to fire, but slipping the strap from his forehead, let go the buffalo meat, and ran for his life. The bear did not stop to regale himself with the game, but kept on after the hunter. He had nearly overtaken him, when Cannon reached a tree, and throwing down his rifle, scrambled up into it. The next instant Bruin was at the foot of the tree, but as this species of bear does not climb, he contented himself with turning the chase into a blockade. Night came on. In the darkness, Cannon could not per ceive whether or not the enemy maintained his station; but his fears pictured him rigorously mounting guard. He passed the night, therefore, in the tree, a prey to dismal fan cies. In the morning the bear was gone. Cannon warily descended the tree, picked up his gun, and made the best of his way back to the camp, without venturing to look after his buifalo meat. GRIZZLY BEAR. Austin. Then the grizzly bear did not hurt him after all. Brian. I would not go among those grizzly bears for all in the world. We have no bears in England, and nothing larger than a hare or. a fox in the woods, so we are safe here. Hunter. In some places, perhaps, a few deer might be found, and they are larger than half a dozen foxes. DEER-TRAPPING. 29 Austin. Do they take deer in North America, as well as other animals ? Hunter. Deer, though their skins are not so valuable as many furs, are very useful to hunters and trappers; for they not only add to their stock of peltries, but also supply them with food. When skins have been tanned on the inside, they are called furs ; but, before they are tanned, they are called peltries. . Deer are trapped much in the same way as buffaloes are. A large circle is inclosed with twisted trees and brushwood, with a very narrow opening, in the neighbourhood of a well-frequented deer path. The inside of the circle is crowded with small hedges, in the openings of which are set snares of twisted thongs, made fast at one end to a neighbouring tree. Two lines of small trees are set up, branching off outwardly from the narrow entrance of the circle ; so that the further the lines of trees extend from the circle, the wider is the space between them. As soon as the deer are seen moving in the direction of the circle, the hunters get behind them, and urge them on by loud shouts. The deer mistaking the lines of trees set up for enemies, fly straight forward, till they enter the snare prepared for them. The circle is then surrounded, to prevent their quitting it, while some of the hunters go into it blocking up the entrance, and kill the deer with their bows and arrows, and their spears. Basil. I am sorry for the poor deer. Brian. And so am I, Basil. Hunter. Hunters are often obliged to leave food in par ticular places, in case they should be destitute on their return that way. They sometimes, too, leave property behind them, and for this purpose they form a cache. Jiustin. Oh ! what is a cache ? Hunter. A cache is a hole, or place of concealment ; and when any thing is put in it, great care is required to conceal it from enemies, and indeed from wild animals, such as wolves and bears. flustin, Well ! but if they dig a deep hole, and put the 30 FUR COMPANIES. things in it, how could any body find it? A wolf arid a bear would never find it out, for they could not see through the ground. Hunter. Perhaps not ; but if they could not see the flesh hidden in the cache, they might smell it. Austin. Ay ! I forgot that. I must understand a little more of my business before I set up for a hunter, or a trap per ; but please to tell us all about a cache. Hunter. A cache is usually dug near a stream, that the earth taken out of the hole may be thrown into the running water, otherwise it would tell tales. Then the hunters spread blankets, or what clothes they have, over the surrounding ground, to prevent the marks of their feet being seen. When they have dug the hole, they line it with dry grass and sticks, and bark, and sometimes with a dry skin. After the things to be hidden are put in, they are covered with another dry skin, and the hole is filled up with grass, stones, and sticks, and trodden down hard, to prevent the top from sinking afterwards : the place is sprinkled \vith water to take away the scent ; and the turf, which was first cut away, before the hole was dug, is laid down with care, just as it was before it was touched. They then take up their blankets and cloths, and leave the cache, putting a mark at some distance, that when they come again they may know where to find it. ftustin. Capital ! capital ! I could make a cache now, that neither a bear, nor a wolf, nor a Red Indian could find out. Brian. But if the bear did not find the cache, he might find you ; and then what would become of you ? Austin. Oh ! climb a tree, as Cannon did. I warrant you that I should manage him, one way or another. Hunter. The fur companies that have been established at different times, are as far as I can remember, the Hud son's Bay Company, the North-west Company, the Russian American Fur Company, the Mackinaw Far Company, the American Fur Company, the. South-west Company, HUNTER'S INVITATION. 31 the Pacific .Fur Company, Ashley's Fur Company, and Bonneville's Fur Company. Of these, I think, the latter two, with the Russian, the American, and the United Hud son's Bay and North-west Companies, are all that now remain. Most of the furs that are taken find their way to London ; but every year the animals which produce them become fewer. Besides the skins of larger animals, North America supplies the furs of a great number of smaller creatures ; and these, varying in their habits, require to be taken in a different manner. The bison is found on the prairies, or plains ; the beaver, on creeks and rivers ; the badger, the fox, and the rabbit, burrow on the ground ; and the bear, the deer, the minx, the martin, the racoon, the lynx, the hare, the musk-rat, the squirrel, and the stoat (the North American ermine) are all to be found in the woods. In paddling up the rivers in canoes, and in roaming the woods and prairies, in search of these animals, I have mingled much with Indians of different tribes ; and if you can, now and then, make a call at my cottage, you will, perhaps, be entertained in hearing what I can tell you about them. The Red Indians should be regarded by us as brothers ; we ought to feel interested in their welfare here, and in their happiness hereafter. We have the word of God, and Christian sabbaths, and Christian ministers, and religious ordinances in abundance, to direct and com fort us ; but they are but scantily supplied with these advan tages. Let us not forget to put them in our prayers, that the Father of mercies may make known his mercy to them, opening their eyes, and influencing their hearts, so that they may become true servants of the " Lord of lords, and King of kings." The delight visible in the sparkling eyes of the young people, as they took their leave, spoke their thanks much better than the words that fell from their tongues. On their way home, they talked of nothing else but fur companies, lakes, rivers, prairies and rocky mountains; buffaloes, wolves, bears, and beavers j and it was quite as much as 32 THE RETURN HOME. Brian and Basil could do, to persuade their brother Austin from making up his mind at once to be a voyageur, a cour- reur des bois, and a trapper. The more they were against it, so much the more his heart seemed set upon the enter prise ; and the wilder they made the buffaloes that would attack him, and the bears and wolves that would tear him to pieces, the bolder and more courageous he became. However, though on this point they could not agree, they were all unanimous in their determination to make another visit to the cottage the first possible opportunity. INDIAN CLOAK. CHIEFS OK DIFFERENT TRIBES. CHAPTER III. Difficulty in ascertaining who were the Aborigines of America, and from whence they came Various opinions on the subject Catlin's publication on the " Manners, Customs, and Condition of the North American Indians'' 1 Census of the different tribes Locality of the Crows, Blackfeet, Sioux, and Creeks The names of some of the Indian chiefs and remarkable characters. PON the next occasion when the three brothers paid a visit to the cottage, they did not go to the red sand-stone rock, though the adventure which took place there formed a part of their con versation. They found the hunter at home, and, being now on very friendly and familiar terms with him, they entered at once on the subject that was nearest their hearts, namely, that of the North American Indians. " Tell us, if you please," said Austin, as soon as they were seated " about the very beginning of the red men. E 33 34 RED MEN. "You are asking me to do that/' replied the hunter, "which is much more difficult than you suppose. To account for the existence of the original inhabitants, and of the various tribes of Red Indians which are now scattered throughout the whole of North America, has puzzled the heads of the wisest men for ages ; and, even at the present day, though travellers have endeavoured to throw light on this subject, it still remains a mystery." Jlustin. But what is it that is so mysterious ? What is it that wise men and travellers cannot make out ? Hunter. They cannot make out how it is, that the whole of America, taking in, as it does, some parts which are almost always covered with snow ; and other parts that are as hot as the sun can make them ; should be peopled with a class of human beings distinct from all others in the world red men, who have black hair, and no beards. If you remember, it is said, in the first chapter-of Genesis, " So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him ; male and femaleVreated he them." And, in the second chapter , " And the Lord God planted a gar den eastward in Eden ; and there he put the man whom he had formed." Now, it is known, by the names of the rivers which are mentioned in the chapter, that the garden of Eden was in Asia ; so that you see our first parents, whence the whole of mankind have spjung, dwelt in Asia. Austin. Yes, that is quite plain. Hunter. Well then, you recollect, I dare say, that when the world was drowned, all mankind were destroyed, except Noah and his family in the ark. Brian. Yes ; we recollect that very well. Hunter. And when the ark rested, it rested on Mount Ararat, which is in Asia also. If you look on the map of the world, you will see that the three continents, Europe, Asia, and Africa are united together ; but America stands by itself*, with an ocean rolling on each side of it, thousands of miles broad. It is easy to suppose that mankind would spread over the continents that are close together, but difficult RED INDIANS OF FORMER TIMES. 35 lo account for their passing over the ocean, at a time when the arts of shipbuilding and navigation were so little under stood. Austin. They must have gone in a ship, that is certain. Hunter. But suppose they did, how come it about that they should be so very different from all other men? America was only discovered about four hundred years ago, or little more, and then it was well peopled with red men, and had great cities. Besides, there have been dis covered throughout America, monuments, ruins, and sites of ancient towns, with thousands of inclosures and fortifi cations. Articles, too, of pottery, sculpture, glass, and copper, have been found at times, sixty or eighty feet under the ground, and in some instances, with forests growing over them, so that they must have been very ancient. The people who built these fortifications and towers, and pos sessed these articles in pottery, sculpture, glass, and copper, lived at a remote period, and must have been, to a conside rable degree cultivated. Who these people were, and how they came to America, no one knows, though many have expressed their opinions. But, even if we did know who they were, how could we account for the present race of Red Indians in- North America being barbarous, when their ancestors were so highly civilized ? These are difficulties which as I said, have puzzled the wisest heads for ages. Austin. What do wise men and travellers say about these things ? Hunter. They think, that as the frozen regions of Asia^ in one part, are so near the frozen regions of North America it being only about forty miles across Behrings' Straits some persons from Asia might have crossed over-there, and peopled the country ; or that North America might have once been joined to Asia, though it is not so now ; or that, in ancient times, some persons might have drifted, or begn blown there by accident, in boats or ships, across the wide ocean. Some think these people might have been the Phenicians, Carthagenians, Hebrews, or Egyptians ; while 36 RED INDIANS OF PRESENT TIMES. another class of reasoners suppose them to have been Hin doos, Chinese, Tartars, Malays, or others. It seems, how ever, to be God's will often to humble the pride of his crea tures, by baffling their conjectures, and hedging up theii opinions with difficulties. His way is in the sea, and his path in the great waters, and his footsteps are not known, Psa. Ixxvii. 1 9. He " maketh the earth empty, and maketh it waste, and turneth it upside down, and scattereth abroad the inhabitants thereof," Isa. xxiv. I. Austin. Well, if you cannot tell us of the Red Indians in former times, you can tell us of the Red Indians that are in North America now, and that will be a great deal better. Brian. Yes, that it will. Hunter. You must bear in mind, that some years have passed since I was hunting and trapping in the woods and prairies, and that many changes have taken place since then among the Red Indians. Some have been tomahawked by the hands of the stronger tribes ; some have sold their lands to the whites, and retired to the west of the Missis sippi ; and tho.usands have been carried off by the small pox, which has made sad- havoc among them. I must therefore, speak of them as they were, except in such instances wherein I may happen to know what changes have taken place. Some of the tribes, since I left them, have been utterly destroyed ; not one living creature among them being left to speak of those who have gone before them. Jlustin. What a pity ! They want some good doctors among them, and then the small pox would not carry them off in that way. Hunter. I will not pretend to give you an exact account of the number of the different tribes, or the particular places they now occupy ; for though my information may be gener ally right, yet the changes which have taken place are many. JLustin. Please to tell us what you remember, and what you. know ; and that will quite satisfy us. Hunter. An American, of the name of Catlin, has pub- INDIAN TRIBES. 37 lished a book called, " Letters and Notes on the Manners, Customs, and Condition of the North American Indians ;" and a most interesting and entertaining account it is. If ever you can lay hold of it, it will afford you great amuse ment. Perhaps no man who has written on the Indians has seen so much of them as he has. Brian. Did you ever meet Catlin ? Hunter. Oh yes, many times ; and a most agreeable companion I found him. The last time I took him by the hand was at the Egyptian Hall, in London, where he had the best collection of Indian curiosities that ever was amassed together. If you can get a sight of his book, you will soon see that he is a man of much knowledge, and pos sessing great courage, energy and perseverance. I will now, then, begin my narrative : and if you can find pleasure in hearing a description of the Red Indians, with their villages, wigwams, war-whoops, and warriors ; their man ners, customs, and superstitions ; their dress, ornaments, and arms; their mysteries, games, huntings, dances, war- councils, speeches, battles, and burials ; with a fair sprink ling of prairie dogs, and wild horses; wolves, beavers, grizzly bears, and mad buffaloes ; I will do my best to give you gratification. Austin. These are the very things that we want to know.- Hunter. I shall not forget to tell you what the missiona ries have done among the Indians ; but that must be towards the latter end of my account. In the year 1836, there was published at New York as correct a statement as could then be drawn up of the numbers of the different tribes. As I have it here, I will just read it over, that you may see which are the most numerous of the tribes. The names of the Indian tribes, with their numbers, which have emigrated to the west of the Mississippi, are, Chocktaws ^ ^ . ; *- .- .. ^ - - 15,000 Appalachicoles - - - - ^ . .. 265 Cherokees - - ' 5,000 33 INDIAN TRIBES. Creeks - - - - - - . - 2,459 Senecas and Shawanees - . - . . . 211 Senecas from Sandusky 231 Potowatemies ........ 141 Peorias and Kaskaskies - - - - - - 132 Pienkeshaws ... . . . 162 Wees - . - - 222 Ottowas 200 Kickapoos 470 Shawanees 1,250 Delawares 825 The names and numbers of the Indian tribes resident west of the Mississippi, are, loways 1,200 Sacs, of the Missouri 500 Omahas 1,400 Ottos and Missourias 1,600 Pawnees . 10,000 Camanchees 7,000 Mandans 15,000 Mirietereers 15,000 Assinaboins ........ 800 Crees 3,000 Grdsventres 3,000 Crows ......... 45,000 Sioux 27,000 Quapaws . . - - - - - 460 Caddoes 800 Poncas ^ 800 Osages 5,120 Kansas - J<J-*'_f^iSi8'::'"*8S &*;:. i. 1,471 Sacs -' - -I 'X^'MK>:>OJ Yfi;ilo fei!^'^:- 4,800 Arickaras 3,000 Charanes - - - - - - - - 2,000 Blackfeet . 30,000 Foxes .' 1,600 Arepehas and Keawas ...... 1,400 And there are yet remaining, east of the river in the southren states, a considerable number ; the five principal tribes, are the Seminoles, yet remaining east ..... 2,420 Choctaws, ditto * - " - . ~ - 3,500 MAP OF NORTH AMERICA. 39 Chickasaws, ditto _ - 5,429 Cherokees, ditto - ... - 10,000 Creeks 22,668 Those stated as western tribes extend along the whole western frontier. The average number of an Indian family is four. Austin. The Crows and the Blackfeet are the most numerous, and then come the Sioux and the Creeks. Hunter. Though this account might be correct in 1836, it is not correct at the present time ; for, in 1838, the Black- feet lost twelve thousand by small pox. Should you meet with an account of North American Indians that differs from this, you must remember that some people include * many of the smaller tribes under the general names of the larger; this would make an apparent difference. Well, now, I will lay before you a map of North America. See how it stretches out north and south from Baffin's Bay to the Gulf of Mexico, and east and west from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean. What a wonderful work of the Almighty is the rolling deep ! " The sea is his, and he made it : and his hands formed the dry land." Here are the great Lakes Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie, and Ontario. Basil. There is one up higher ; and yonder is another to the left hand, bigger still, I think. Hunter. That to the left is Slave Lake, and the other is Lake Winipeg ; and here run the mighty rivers, the Mis sissippi, the Mackenzie, the Missouri, the Ohio, and the St. Lawrence : the Mississippi itself is between three and four thousand miles long. Basil. What a river ! Please to tell us what are all those little hills running along there, one above another, from top to bottom. Hunter. They are the Rocky Mountains. Some regard them as a continuation of the Andes of South America ; so that, if both are put together, they will make a chain of mountains little short of nine thousand miles long. North America, with its mighty lakes, rivers, and mountains, its 40 CHARACTER OF THE INDIANS. extended valleys and prairies, its bluffs, caverns, and cata racts, and, more than all, its Red Indian inhabitants, beavers, buffaloes, and bisons, will afford us something to talk of for some time to come ; but the moment you are tired of my account, we will bring the matter to a close. Austin. We shall never be tired ; no, not if you go on telling us something every time we come, for a whole year. Hunter. You remember the Crow Indians are the most numerous of all the tribes. You will find them at the head waters of the Yellow Stone River. When a Crow meets a Blackfoot there is a struggle, for they mortally hate each Other. Brian. Where are the Blackfeet? Are they near the Crows? Hunter. They are at the head of the Missouri river. These are not such fine looking men as the Crows, for they are low in stature ; however, they are strong, broad-chested men, and have usually plenty of arms. The Sioux, or Dahc6ta, occupy a large tract of country in the upper part of the Mississippi and Missouri rivers, stretching out to the rocky mountains on the west ; while the Creeks are divided, part being on the east of the Mississippi, and part on the west. Austin. How did these tribes behave to you, when you were among them ? Hunter. I have not a word of complaint to make. The Red Indians have been represented as treacherous, dis honest, reserved, and sour in their disposition ; but, instead of this, I have found them generally, though not in all cases, frank, upright, hospitable, light-hearted, and friendly. Those who have seen Indians smarting under wrongs, and deprived, by deceit and force, of their lands, hunting grounds, and the graves of their fathers, may have found them other wise : and no wonder ; the worm that is trodden on, will writhe ; and man, unrestrained by divine grace, when treated with injustice and cruelty, will turn on his oppressor, STU-MICH-O-SUCKS, CHIEF OF THE BLACKFEKT INDIANS. 41 INDIAN CHIEFS. 43 Austin. Say what you will, I like the Red Indians. Hunter. That there is much of evil among Indians, is certain : much of ignorance, unrestrained passions, cruelty, and revenge : but they have been misrepresented in many things. I had better tell you the names of some of the chiefs of the tribes, or of some of the most remarkable men among them. Austin. Yes ; you cannot do better. Tell us the names of all the chiefs, and the warriors, and the conjurors, and all about them. Hunter. The Blackfeet Indians are a very warlike peo ple ; they inhabit, or did inhabit, a tract of land at the head waters of the river Missouri, stretching off to the west as far as the Rocky Mountains. Stu-mich-o-suks \ was the name of their chief. Austin. Stu-mich-o-sucks ! What a name ! Is there any meaning in it ? Hunter. Oh yes. It means, " the back fat of the buffalo ;" and if you had seen him and Peh-to-pe-kiss, " the ribs of the eagle," chief of the Blood Band, dressed, up in their splendid mantles, buffaloes' horns, ermine tails, and scalp locks, you would not soon have removed your eyes from them. Brian. Who would ever be called by such a name as that ? The back fat of the buffalo ! Hunter. The Camanchees are famous on horseback. There is no tribe among the Indians that can come up to them, to my mind, in the management of a horse, and the use of the lance : they are capital hunters. If you pay them a visit, you will find them, part in the provinces of Mexico, and part farther north, near the Rocky Mountains. The name of their chief is Ee-shah-kd-nee, or " the bow and quiver." I hardly ever saw a larger man among the Red Indians than Ta-w<ih-que-nah, the second chief in power. Ta-wah-que-nah, means " the mountains of rocks ;" a very fit name for a huge Indian living near the Rocky Mountains. When I saw Kots-o-ko-ro-ko, or " the hair of 44 INDIAN CHIEFS. the bull's neck ;" who is, if I remember right, the third chief ; he had a gun in his right hand, and his warlike shield on his left arm. Austin. If I go among the Indians, I shall stay a long time with the Camanchees; and then I shall, perhaps, become one of the most skilful horsemen, and one of the best hun ters in the world. Brian. And suppose you get thrown off your horse, cr killed in hunting buffaloes, what shall you say to it then ? Austin. Oh, very little, if I get killed ; but no fear of that. I shall mind what I am about. Tell us who is the head of the Sioux ? Hunter. When I was at the upper waters of the Missis sippi and Missouri rivers, where the Sioux, or Dah-c6-ta, reside, Ha-w6n-je-tah, or "the one horn," was chief; but since then, being out among the buffaloes, a buffalo bull set on him, and killed him. Basil. There, Austin ! If an Indian chief was killed by a buffalo, what should you do among them ? Why they would toss jou over their heads like a shuttlecock. Hunter. Wee-ta-ra-sha-ro, the head chief of the Paw nee Picts, is dead now, I dare say ; for he was a very old, as well as a very venerable looking man. Many a buffalo hunt with the Camanchees had he in his day, and many a time did he go forth with them in their war parties. He had a celebrated brave of the name of Jlh'-sho-cole, or " rotten foot," and another called *fl.h'-re-kah-na-c6-chee, "the mad elk." Indians give the name of brave, to a warrior distinguished for courage. Brian. I wonder that they should choose such long names. It must be a hard matter to remember them. Hunter. There were many famous men among the Sacs. Kee-o-kuk was the chief. Kee-o-kuk means " the running fox." One of his boldest braves was Ma-ka-tai- me-stie-kia-ki&k, " the black hawk." The history of this renowned warrior is very curious. It was taken down from his own lips, and has been published. If you should INDIAN NAMES. 45 .ike to listen to the adventures of Black Hawk, I will relate them to you some day, when you have time to hear them, as well as those of young Nik-ka-no-chee, a Serninole. Austin. We will not forget to remind you of your pro mise. It will be capital to listen to these histories. Hunter. When I saw Wa-s&w-me-saw, or, " the roaring thunder," the youngest son of Black Hawk, he was in cap tivity. Nah-se-us-kuk, " the whirling thunder," his eldest son, was a fine looking man, beautifully formed, with a spirit like that of a lion. There was a war called The Black Hawk war, and Black Hawk was the leader and conductor of it ; and one of his most famous warriors was Wah-pe-kee-suck, or " white cloud ;" he was, however, as often called The Prophet as the White Cloud. Pam-a-ho, "the swimmer;" Wah-pa-ko-Ids-kuk, "the track of the bear;" and Pash-ce-pa-ho, "the little stabbing chief;" were, I think, all three of them warriors of Black Hawk. Basil. The Little Stabbing Chief! He must be a very dangerous fellow to go near, if we judge by his name keep away from him, Austin, if you go to the Sacs. Austin. Oh ! he would never think of stabbing me. I should behave well to all the tribes, and then I dare sa^ they would all of them behave well to me. You have not said any thing of the Crow Indians. Hunter. I forget who was at the head of the Crows, though I well remember several of the Warriors among them. They were tall, well-proportioned, and dressed with a great deal of taste and care. Pa-ris-ka-ro6-pa, called "the two crows," had a head of hair that swept the ground after him as he walked along. Austin. What do you think of that, Basil ? No doubt the Crows are fine fellows. Please to mention two or three more. Hunter. Let me see; there was Ee-hee-a-duck-chee-a, or, " he who binds his hair before ;" and Ho-ra-to-ah, "a warrior;" and Chah-ee-ch6pes, " the four wolves ;" the 46 INDIAN NAMES. hair of these was as long as that of Pa-ris-ka-ro6-pa. Though they were very tall, Ee-hee-a-duck-chee-a being at least six feet high, the hair of each of them readied and rested on the ground. Austin. When I go to North America, the Crow Indians shall not be forgotten by me. I shall have plenty to tell you of, Brian", when I come back. Brian. Yes, if you ever do come back ; but what with the sea, and the rivers, and the swamps, and the bears, and the buffaloes, you are sure to get killed. You will never tell us about the Crows, or about any thing else. Hunter. There was one of the Crows called The Red Bear, or Duhk-jrits-o-ho-shee. Brian. Duhk-pitch a Duck-pits I cannot pronounce the word why that is worse to speak than any. Austin. Hear me pronounce it then, Duhk-pits-o-hoot- she. No ; that is not quite right, but very near it. Basil. You must not go among the Crows yet, Austin ; you cannot talk well enough. Hunter. Oh, there are much harder names among some of the tribes than those I have mentioned ; for instance, there is Jlu-nah-kwet-to-hau-pfy-o, " the one sitting in the clouds ;" and Eh-tohk-pay-she-pee-shah, k < the black mocas sin ;" and Lay-lo6-ah-pee-&i-shee-kaw, or " grass, bush, and blossom ;" and Kay-ee-qua-da-Mm-ee-gish-kum, " he who tries the ground with his foot;" and Shon-ga-ton-ga-chtsh- en-day, " the horse dung ;" and Mah-to-rah-rish-nee-veh- ee-rah, "the grizzly bear that runs without regard." Brian. Why, these names are as long as from here to yonder. Set to work, Austin ! set to work ! For, if there :.re many such names as these among the Indians, you will have enough to do, without going buffalo hunting. Austin. I never dreamed that there were such names as those in the world. Basil. Ay, you will have enough of them, Austin, if you go abroad. You will never be able to learn them, do what you will. Give it up, Austin ; give it up at once. INDIAN NAMES. 47 Though Brian and Basil were very hard on Austin, on their way home, about the long names of the Indians, and the impossibility of his ever being able to learn them by heart, Austin defended himself stoutly. "Very likely/' said he," after all, they call these long names in short, just as we do ; Nat for Nathaniel, Kit for Christopher, and Elic for Alexander." WIGWAMS. CHAPTER IV. Wigwams Crow Indians quitting an encampment Villages Food Pomme blanche Pemican Marrow fat Fruit Dress Full dress of Mah-to-toh-pa, " the four bears" Bows and arrows, quiv ers, tomahawks, spears, shields, and scalping knives Scalping War clubs Indian warfare Warfare of white men Language Names of the sun and moon, a buffalo, and the Great Spirit, in dif ferent languages Indian method of signing treaties. HORTLY after the interview which we have just described Austin, Brian, and Basil were again listening to the interesting accounts given by their friend, the hunter; and it would have been a difficult point to decide if the listeners derived most pleasure from their occupation, or the narrator. Austin began with out delay to speak of the Red Indians, the Aborigines of North America. " We want to know," said he, " a little more about what these people were, when they were first found out." 48 WIGWAMS. 49 Hunter. When America was first discovered, the inhab itants, though for the most part partaking of one general character, were not without variety. The greater part, as I told you, were, both in hot and cold latitudes, red men, with black hair, and without beards. They, perhaps, might have been divided into four parts : the Mexicans and Peruvians, who were, to a considerable extent, civilized ; the Caribs, who inhabited the fertile soil and luxuriant clime of the West Indies ; the Esquimaux, who were then just the same people as they are now, living in the same manner by fishing ; and tfte Red Men, or North American Indians. Jiustin. Then the Esquimaux are not Red Indians. Hunter. No ; they are .more like the people who live in Lapland, and in the north of Asia ; and for this reason, and because the distance across Behring's Straits is so short, it is thought they came from Asia, and. are a part of the same people. The red men are, however, different ; and as we agreed that I should tell you about the present race of them, perhaps I may as well proceed. Austin. Yes. Please to tell us first of their wigwams, and their villages, and how they live. Brian. And what they eat, and what clothes they wear. Basil. And how they talk to one another. Austin. Yes ; and all about their spears and toma- nawks. Hunter. The wigwams of the Red Indians are of differ ent kinds : some are extremely simple, being formed of high sticks or poles, covered with turf or the bark of trees ; while others are very handsome. The Sioux, the Assinne- boins, the Blackfeet, and the Crows, form their wigwams nearly in the same manner ; that is, by sewing together the skins of buffaloes, after properly dressing them, and making them into the form of a tent. This covering is then sup ported by poles. The tent has a hole at the top, to Jet out the smoke, and to let in the light. G 5 50 INDIAN ENCAMPMENT. Austin. Ay, that is a better way of making a wigwam than covering over sticks with turf. Hunter. The wigwams, or lodges, of the Mandans are round. A circular foundation is dug about two feet deep ; timbers six feet high are set up all round it, and on these are placed other long timbers, slanting inwards, and fastened together in the middle, tent fashion, leaving space for light, and for the smoke to pass. This tent-like roof is supported by beams and upright posts, and it is covered over outwardly by willow boughs and a thick coating of earth ; then comes 'the last covering of hard tough clay. The sun bakes this, and long use makes it solid. The outside of a Mandan lodge is almost as useful as the inside ; for there the people sit, stand, walk and take the air. These lodges are forty, fifty, or sixty feet wide. Brian. The Mandan wigwam is the best of all. Hunter Wigwams, like those of the Mandans, which are always in the same place, and are not intended to be removed, are more substantial than such as may be erected and taken down at pleasure. Some of the wigwams of the Crow Indians, covered as they are with skins dressed almost white, and ornamented with paint, porcupine quills, and scalp-locks, are very beautiful. Austin. Yes ; they must look even better than the Man- dan lodges, and they can be taken down and carried away. Hunter. It would surprise you to witness an encamp ment of Crows or Sioux strike their tents or wigwams. Before now, I have seen an encampment of several hun dred lodges all standing ; which, in two or three minutes after, were flat upon the prairie. Austin. Why, it must be like magic. Hunter. The time has been fixed, preparations made, the signal given, and all at once the poles and skin coverings have been taken down. Brian. How do they carry the wigwams away with them? INDIAN VILLAGES. 51 Hunter. The poles are dragged along by horses and by dogs ; the smaller ends being fastened over their shoulders, while on the larger ends, dragging along on the ground, are placed the lodge-coverings, rolled up together. The dogs pull along two poles, each with a load, while the horses are taxed according to their strength. Hundreds of horses and dogs, thus dragging their burdens, may be seen slowly moving over the prairie, with attendant Indians on horse back, and women and girls on foot heavily laden, Brian. What a sight ! and what a length they must stretch out ; such a number of them ! Hunter. Some of their villages are large, and fortified with two rows of high poles round them. A Pawnee Pict village on the Red River, with its five or six hundred beehive-like wigwams of poles, thatched with prairie grass, much pleased me. Round the village there were fields of maize, melons, and pumpkins growing. The villages of the Camanchees, the Kiawas, and the Wico's, were inter esting objects ; and the dome-like wigwams of the Mandan villages, and the tent-like lodges of the Crows, had a most picturesque effect. The Red Indians hunt, fish, and some of them grow corn for food; but the flesh of the buffalo is what they most depend upon, unless it be the tribes which are nearest the white men; these, such as the Creeks, Osages, Otaways, Otawas, Winnebagoes, and especially the Cherokees, are losing the character of Indians every day more and more, and adopting the manners and customs of the whites. Austin. How do the Indians cook their food ? Hunter. They broil or roast meat and fish, by laying them on the fire, or on sticks raised above the fire. They boil meat, also, making of it a sort of soup. I have often seated myself, squatting down on a robe spread for me, to a fine joint of buffalo ribs, admirably roasted ; with, perhaps, a pudding-like paste of the " pomme blanche," or prairie turnip, flavoured with buffalo berries. 52 DRESS OF A WARRIOR. Austin. That is a great deal like an English dinner roast beef and a pudding. Hunter. The Indians eat a great deal of green corn, pemican, and marrow fat. The pemican is buffalo meat, dried hard, and pounded in a wooden mortar. Marrow fat is what is boiled out of buffalo bones ; it is usually kept in bladders. They eat, also, the flesh of the deer and other animals : that of the dog is reserved for feasts and especial occasions. They have, also, beans and peas, peaches, melons and strawberries, pears, pumpkins, chincapins, wal nuts and chestnuts. These things they can get when set tled in their villages ; but when wandering, or on their war parties, they take up what they can get. They never eat salt with their food. Basil. And what kind of clothes do they wear ? Hunter. Principally skins, unless they trade with the whites, in which case they buy cloths of different kinds. Some wear long hair, some cut their hair off and shave the head. Some dress themselves with very few ornaments, but others have very many. Shall I describe to you the full dress of M&h-to-toh-pa, "the four bears." ftustin. Oh, yes ; every thing belonging to him. Hunter. You must imagine, then, that he is standing up before you, while I describe him, not a little proud of his costly attire. ftustin. I fancy that I can see him now. Hunter. His robe was the soft skin of a young buffalo bull. On one side was the fur ; on the other, the victories he had won were set forth. His shirt, or tunic, was made of the skins of mountain sheep, ornamented with porcupine quills and paintings of his battles. From the edge of his shoulder-band hung the long black locks that he had taken with his own hand from his enemies. His head-dress was of war-eagle quills, falling down his back to his very feet ; on the top of it stood a pair of buffalo horns, shaven thin, and polished beautifully. Brian. What a figure he must have been ! MAH-TO-TOH-PA, SECOND CHIEF OF THE MANDANS. 53 DRESS OF A WARRIOR. 55 Hunter. His leggings were tight, decorated with porcu pine quills and scalp locks : they were made of the finest deer skins, and fastened to a belt round the waist. His mo cassins, or shoes, were buckskin, embroidered in the richest manner ; and his necklace, the skin of an otter, had on it fifty huge claws, or rather talons, of the grizzly bear. Austin. What a desperate fellow f bold as a lion, I will be bound for it. Had he no arms about him ? Hunter. Oh, yes! He held in his left hand a two-edged spear of polished steel, with a shaft of tough ash, and orna mented with tufts of war-eagle quills. His bow, beautifully white, was formed of bone, strengthened with the sinews of deer, drawn tight over the back of it ; the bow-string was a three-fold twist of sinews. Seldom had its twang been heard, without an enemy or a buffalo falling to the earth ; and rarely had that lance been urged home, without finding its way to some victim's heart. Austin. I thought he was a bold fellow. Hunter. He had a costly shield of the hide of a buffalo, stiffened with glue and fringed round with eagle quills and antelope hoofs ; and a quiver of panther skin, well filled with deadly shafts. Some of their points were flint, and some were steel, and most of them were stained with blood. He carried a pipe, a tobacco sack, a belt, and a medicine bag ; and in his right hand he held a war club like a sling, being made of a round stone wrapped up in raw hide and fastened to a tough stick handle. Austin. What sort of a pipe was it ? Basil. What was in his tobacco sack ? Brian. You did not say what his belt was made of. Hunter. His pipe was made of a red pipe-stone, and it had a stem of young ash, full three feet long, braided with porcupine quills in the shape of animals and men. It was also ornamented with the beaks of woodpeckers, and hairs from the tail of the white buffalo. One thing I ought not to omit; on the lower half of the pipe which was painted red, were notched the snows, or years of his life. By this 56 SCALPING. simple record of their lives, the red men of the forest ar 1 the prairie may be led to something like reflection. " \\ ^ are but of yesterday, and know nothing, because our days upon earth are a shadow," Job viii. 9. JBasil. What was in his tobacco sack ? Hunter. His flint and steel, for striking a light ; as well as his tobacco, which was nothing more than bark of the red willow. His medicine bag was beaver skin, adorned with ermine and hawks' tills; and his belt, in which he carried his tomahawk and scalping knife, was formed of tough buckskin, firmly fastened round his loins. Austin. Please to tell us about the scalping knife. It must be a fearful instrument. Hunter. All instruments of cruelty, vengeance, and de struction are fearful, whether in savage or civilized life. What are we, that wrath, and revenge, and covetousness should be fostered in our hearts ! What is man, that he should shed the blood of his brother ! Before the Indians had dealing with the whites, they made their own weapons : their bows were strung with the sinews of deer; their arrows were headed with flint ; their knives were of sharpened bone ; their war-clubs were formed of wood, cut into different shapes, and armed with sharp stones; and their tomahawks, or hatchets, were of the same materials : but now, many of their weapons, such as hatchets, spear heads, and knives, are made of iron, being procured from the whites, in exchange for the skins they obtain in the chase. A scalping knife is oftentimes no other than a rudely formed butcher's knife, with one edge, made in England and sold to the Indians; others are made in America; and the Indians wear them in beautiful scab bards under their belts. Austin. How does a Red Indian scalp his enemy ? Hunter. The hair on the crown of the head is seized with the left hand; the knife makes a circle round it through the skin, and then the hair and skin together, some times with the hand, and sometimes with the teeth, CLUBS AND TOMAHAWKS. 57 are forcibly torn off. The scalp may be, perhaps, as broad as my hand. Brian. Terrible ! Scalping would be sure to kill a man, I suppose. Hunter. Scalps are war trophies, and are generally regarded as proofs of the death of those who wore them ; but an Indian, inflamed with hatred and rage, and excited by victory, will not always wait till his foe has expired be fore he scalps him. The hair, as well as the scalp, of a fallen foe is carried oif by the victorious Indian, and with it his clothes are afterwards ornamented. It is said, that, during the old French war, an Indian slew a Frenchman who wore a wig. The warrior stooped down, and seized the hair for the purpose of securing the scalp. To his great astonishment, the wig came off, leaving the head bare. The Indian held it up, and examining it with great wonder, exclaimed, in broken English, "Dat one big lie." Brian. How the Indian would stare ! Basil. He had never seen a wig before, I dare say. cr., Scalping knife. 6, Ditto, in sheath. c, <7, War clubs, e, e t Tomahawks, g, Whip. Hunter. The arms of Indians, offensive and defensive are, for the most part, those which I have mentioned the club, the tomahawk, the bow and arrow, the spear, the shield, and the scalping knife ; but the use of fire-arms is H 58 TOMAHAWKS, ARROWS, AND SHIELDS. gradually extending among some of their tribes. Some of their clubs are merely massy pieces of hard, heavy wood, nicely fitted to the hand, with, perhaps, a piece of hard bone stuck in the head part ; others are curiously carved into fanciful and uncouth shapes ; while, occasionally, may be seen a frightful war club, knobbed all over with brass nails, with a steel blade at the end of it a span long. Austin. What a terrible weapon, when wielded by a savage ! Brian. I would not go among the Indians, with their clubs and tomahawks, for a thousand pounds. Basil. Nor I either : they would be sure to kill me. Hunter. The tomahawk is often carved in a strange manner ; and some of the bows and arrows are admirable. The bow formed of bone and strong sinews is a deadly weapon ; and some Indians have boasted of having sent an arrow from its strings right through the body of a buffalo. Austin. What a strong arm that Indian must have had ! Through a buffalo's body? Hunter. The quiver is made of the skin of the panther, or the otter ; and some of the arrows it contains are usually poisoned. Brian. Why, then, an arrow is sure to kill a person, if it hits him. Hunter. It is not likely that an enemy, badly wounded with a poisoned arrow, will survive ; for the head is set on loosely, in order that, when the arrow is withdrawn, the poisoned barb may remain in the wound. How opposed are these cruel stratagems of war to the precepts of the gospel of peace, which says, " Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and perse cute you !" Matt. v. 44. Basil. What will you do, Austin, if you go among the Indians, and they shoot you with a poisoned arrow ? MODE OF WARFARE. 59 Austin. Oh, I shall carry a shield. You heard that the Indians carry shields. Hunter. The shields of the Crows and Blackfeet are made of the thick skin of the buffalo's neck: they are made as hard as possible, by smoking them, and by putting glue upon them obtained from the hoofs of animals; so that they will not only turn aside an arrow, but a musket ball, if they are held a little obliquely. Jiustin. There, Basil ! You see that I shall be safe, after all ; for I shall carry a large shield, and the very hardest I can get anywhere. Hunter. Their spears have long, slender handles, with steel heads : the handles are as much as a dozen feet long, or more, and very skilful are they in the use of them ; and yet, such is the dread of the Indian when opposed to a white man, that, in spite of his war horse and his eagle plumes, his bow and well-filled quiver, his long lance, toma hawk, and scalping knife, his self-possession forsakes him. He has heard, if not seen, what the white man has done ; and he thinks there is no standing against him. If he can surprise him, he will ; but, generally, the red man fears to grapple with a pale face in the strife of war, for he con siders him clothed with an unknown power. Austin. I should have thought that a Red Indian would be more than a match for a white man. Hunter. So long as he can crawl in the grass or brush wood, and steal silently upon him by surprise, or send a shaft from his bow from behind a tree, or a bullet from his rifle from the brow of a bluff, he has an advantage ; but, when he comes face to face with the white man, he is super- stitiously afraid of him. The power of the white man, in war, is that of bravery and skill; the power of the red man consists much in stratagem and surprise. Fifty white men, armed on an open plain, would beat off a hundred red men. Brian. Why is it that the red men are always fighting 60 INDIAN NAMES. one against another ? They are all brothers, and what is the use of their killing one another ? Hunter. Most of the battles among the Red Indians, are brought about by the belief that they are bound to revenge an injury to their tribe. There can be no peace till revenge is satisfied ; they are almost always retaliating one on another. Then, again, the red men have too often been tempted, bribed, and, in some cases, forced to fight for the white man. Brian. That is very sad, though. Hunter. It is sad; but when you say red men are brothers, are not white men brothers too ? And yet, though they have been instructed in the truths of Christianity, and the gospel of peace, which red men have not, how ready they are to draw the sword ! War springs from sin ; and until sin is subdued in the human heart, war will ever be dear to it. ftustin. What do the Indians call the sun ? Hunter. The different tribes speak different languages, and therefore you must tell me which of them you mean. Austin. Oh ! I forgot that. Tell me what two or three of the tribes call it. Hunter. A Sioux calls it wee ; a Mandan, menahka ; a Tuskarora, hiday ; and a Blackfoot, cristeque ahtose. Austin. The Blackfoot is the hardest to remember. I should not like to learn that language. Brian. But you must learn it, if you go among them ; or else you will not understand a word they say. Jlustin. Well I shall manage it somehow or other. Perhaps some of them may know English; or we may make motions one to another. What do they call the moon ? Hunter. A Blackfoot calls it coque ahtose ; a Sioux, on wee ; a Riccaree, wetah ; a Mandan, esto menahka ; and a Tuskarora, autsunyehaw. Brian. I wish you joy of the languages you have to learn, Austin, if you become a wood-ranger, or a trapper. INDIAN NAMES. 61 Remember, you must learn them all ; and you will have quite enough to do, I warrant you. ftustin. Oh ! I shall learn a little at a time. We cannot do every thing at once. What do the red men call a buffalo ? Hunter. In Riccaree, it is watash ; in Mandan, ptem- day ; in Tuskarora, hohats ; in Blackfoot, eneuh. Basil. What different names they give them ! Hunter. Yes. In some instances they are alike, but generally they differ. If you were to say " How do you do ?" as is the custom in England ; you must say among the Indians, How ke che wa ? Chee na e num ? Dati yoothay its ? or Tush hah thah mah kah hush ? according to the language in which you spoke. I hardly think these lan guages would suit you so well as your own. Brian. They would never suit me ; but Austin must learn every bit of them. I never heard such outlandish talk before. Austin. I want to know the names that the Indians give to the Great Spirit. Hunter. The names given by the Sioux, the Tuskaroras, the Mandans, and the Riccarees, are Wokon shecha ; Ye wunni yoh ; Mah ho peneta ; and Ka ke wa rooh teh. Austin. Please to tell us a few more words of different kinds ; such as bear and beaver, bow and lance, pipe and tobacco, and a brave. Hunter. In Tuskarora, a bear is jotakry yukuh ; a bow awrow ; and a quiver, yonats ronar hoost pah. In Sioux, a beaver is chapa ; a pipe, tehon de oopa ; and tobacco, tchondee. In Mandan, a wigwam is ote ; a brave, numohkharica ; and a lance, monna etorook shoka. In Riccaree, a white buffalo is tohn hah tah ka ; a wolf, steerich ; and a war eagle, nix war roo. And now, I think that I have told you quite as much of the Indian languages as you will remember. Brian. We shall never remember one half of it ; no, nor a quarter ! ' 6 62 INDIAN WRITING. Basil. I can only remember that chapa is a beaver. Austin. Well done, Basil ; I had forgotten that. But please to tell us how 1 to count Ten, and then we will ask you no more about languages. Let it be in the language of the Riccarees. Hunter. Yery well. Jlsco, pitco, tow wit, tehee tish, tehee hoo, tcha pis, to tcha pis, to tcha pis won, nah e ne, ivon, nah en. I will just add, that weetah, is twenty ; nahen tehee hoo, is fifty ; nah en te tcha pis won, is eighty ; shok tan, is a hundred ; and sho tan tera hoo, is a thou sand. Austin. Can the Red Indians write ? Hunter. Oh, no ; they have no use for pen and ink, ex cepting some of the tribes near the whites. In many of the different treaties which have been made between the white and the red man, the latter has put, instead of his name, a rough drawing of the animal or thing after which he had been called. If the Indian chief was named " War hatchet," he made a rough outline of a tomahawk. If his name was " The great buffalo," then the outline of a buffalo was his signature. Basil. Well, how curious ! Hunter. The Big turtle, the Fish, the Scalp, the Jirrow, and the Big canoe, all drew the form represented by their names in the same manner. If you were to see these signatures, you would not run into the error of thinking that these Indian chiefs had ever taken lessons in the art of drawing. Brian. I dare say their fish, and arrows, and hatchets, and turtles, and buffaloes, are comical things. Hunter. Yes : but the hands that make thSse feeble scrawls are strong, when they wield the bow or the toma hawk. A white man in the Indian country, according to a story that is told, met a Shawanos riding a horse, which he recognised as his own, and claimed it from him as his pro perty. The Indian calmly answered : "Friend, after a little while I will call on you at your house, when we will talk INDIAN AND HIS HORSE 63 this matter over." A few days afterwards, the Indian came to the white man's house, who insisted on having his horse restored to him. The other then told him : " Friend, the horse which you claim belonged to my uncle, who lately died ; according to the Indian custom, I have become heir to all his property." The white man not being satis fied, and renewing his demand, the Indian immediately took a coal from the fire-place, and made two striking figures on the door of the house ; the one representing the white man taking the horse, and the other himself in the act of scalping him: then he coolly asked the trembling claimant whether he could read this Indian writing. The matter was thus settled at once, and the Indian rode oft'. Austin. Ay ; the white man knew that he had better give up the horse than be scalped. After the hunter had told Austin and his brothers that he should be sure to have something to tell them on their next visit, they took their departure, having quite enough to occupy their minds till they reached home. INDIAN CHIEF. BLACK HAWK. CHAPTER V. The history of Black Hawk Na-nd-ma-kee's dream Black Hawk's birth place Becomes a brave Fights against the Osages His father killed Destroys forty lodges of the Osages Sac chiefs go to St. Louis Strong drink given them, and they sign away land of the Sacs' nation American whites deceive the Sacs, and Black Hawk joins the British His battles He returns home Kee-o-kuk made chief Black Hawk again goes to war He gives himself up to the Americans A buffalo hunt. OUDLY did Austin Ed wards exclaim " Black Hawk ! Black Hawk !" as he came in sight of the hunter, who was just returning to his cottage as Austin and his brothers reached it. " You promised to tell us all about Black Hawk, and we are come to hear it now." HISTORY OF BLACK HAWK. 65 The hunter told the boys that it had been his intention to talk with them about the prairies and bluffs, and to have described the wondrous works of God in the wilderness, of which it might literally be said, strown as they were with fruits and flowers, " The wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad for them; and the desert shall rejoice, and blossom as the rose," Isa. xxxv. 1. It appeared, however, that Austin's heart, was too much set on hearing the history of Black Hawk, to listen patiently to any thing else ; and the hunter, perceiving this, willingly agreed to gratify him. He told them, that, in reading or hearing the history of Indian chiefs, they must not be carried away by false notions of their valour, for that it was always mingled with much cruelty. The word of God said truly, that the dark places of the earth are full of the habitations of cruelty," Psa. Ixxiv. 20. " With untaught Indians," continued he, " revenge is virtue ; and to tomahawk an enemy, and tear away his scalp, the noblest act he can perform in his own estimation ; whereas Christians are taught, as 1 said before, to forgive and love their enemies. But I will now begin the history of Black Hawk." Austin. Suppose you tell us his history just as he would tell it himself. Speak to us as if you were Black Hawk, and we will not utter a single word. Hunter. Very well. Then for a while, I will be Black Hawk, and what I tell you will be true, only the words will be my own, instead of those of the Indian chief. Now, then, I will be Black Hawk, and speak as if I spoke to American white men. " I am an old man, the changes of many moons and the toils of war have made me old. I have been a conqueror, and I have been conquered : many moons longer I cannot hope to live. " I have hated the whites, but have been treated well by them when a prisoner. I wish, before I go my long jour ney, at the command of the Great Spirit, to the hunting grounds of my fathers in another world, to tell my history ; it will then be seen why I hated the whites. Bold and I 6* 66 HIS PARENTAGE. proud was I once, in my native forests, but the pale faces deceived me ; it was for this that I hated them. "Would you know where I was born? I will tell you. It was at the Sac village on Rock River. This was accor ding to white man's reckoning, in the year 1767, so that I am fifty years old, and ten and seven. My father's name was Py-e-sa ; the father of his father was Na-na-ma-kee, or thunder. I was a brave, and after wards a chief, a leading war-chief, carrying the medicine bag. I fought against the Osages. Did I fear them? No. Did I often win the victory ? I did. " The white men of America said to the Sacs and Foxes, to the Sioux, the Chippewas, and Winnebagoes, < Go you to the other side of the Mississippi ;' and they said, < Yes.' But I said, i No : why should I leave the place where our wigwams stand, where we have hunted for so many moons, and where the bones of our fathers have rested ? Ma-ka- tai-me-she-kia-kiak, or Black Hawk, will not go. 5 " My heart told me that my great white father, the chief of America, would not do wrong ; would not make me go to the other side of the river. My prophet also told me the same. I felt my arm strong, and I fought. Never did the hand of Black Hawk kill woman or child. They were warriors that Black Hawk fought with. " Many moons before I or my father hunted in the forest, or on the prairie, Na-na-ma-kee, my great grandfather, had a dream many times, that he should some day meet with a white father. He believed the dream, and went with his brothers Pau-ka-hum-ma-wa, or Sun-fish, and Na-mah, or Sturgeon, to meet with his white father. " They went on for five days to the left of sunrise, and then Na-na-ma-kee told them to go on and listen, and if they heard any thing to set up a pole with grass on it. They went on, heard a noise, set up the pole, and came back for Na-na-ma-kee, who went with them. He then went on alone, and met his great white father. He was much astonished, for his white father told him BLACK HAWK BECOMES A BRAVE. 67 that he was son of the king of France, and gave him pre sents ; and said that on their return to their tribe, he must be their chief, and his brothers under chiefs. He gave Na- na-ma-kee guns, and powder and lead, and spears ; and told him how the guns were to be used against enemies and in hunting ; and he gave his brothers cooking vessels and other things. It is the will of the Great Spirit/ said his great white father, < that Na-na-ma-kee shall be chief of his peo ple, and a great general/ " When Na-ria-ma-kee went back with his brothers, his tribe made him their chief, and gave him the medicine bag ; and for many moons they had dealings with their, great white French father, giving him their peltries and furs, and taking for them arms, and vessels, and other things. "At last the British white men beat away the French, and our people had a British white father, who gave them goods. But the other tribes went to war with our people, and the tomahawk, and the spear, and the gun had plenty to do. Our people joined with the Foxes, and at last, after being beaten to the river Wisconsin, they went down the Rock River, drove away the Kas-kas-kias, and built a vil lage ; in that village Black Hawk was born. "Though I came down from the chief Na-na-ma-kee, yet my people would riot let me dress like a chief. I did not paint myself ; I did not wear feathers ; but I was bold and not afraid to fight, so I became a brave. ' " The Osages were our enemies, and I went with my father and many more to fight. I saw my father kill an enemy, and tear away the scalp from his head. I felt deter mined to do the same. I pleased my father ; for, with my tomahawk and spear, I rushed on an enemy. I brought back his scalp in my hand. " 1 next led on seven of our people against a hundred Osages, and killed one. After that, I led on two hundred, when we killed a hundred, and took many scalps. In a battle with the Cherokees my father was killed. I painted my face black, and prayed to the Great Spirit, and did not 68 BLACK HAWK AND THE AMERICANS. fight any more for five years ; all that I did was to hunt and to fish. " The Osages had done us great wrong, so we were de termined to destroy them. I set off, in the third moon, at the head of five hundred Sacs and Foxes, and one hundred loways. We fell upon forty lodges. I made two of their squaws prisoners, but all the rest of the people in the lodges we killed. Black Hawk killed seven men himself. In a battle with the Cherokees, I killed thirteen of their bravest with my own hand. " One of our people killed a pale-face American, and he was put in prison ; so we sent Quash-qua-me, Pa-she-pa-ho, 06-che-qua-ka, and Ha-she-quar-hi-qua to St. Louis, to pay for the killed man, and to cover the blood. Did the pale faces do well ? No, they did not ; they set our man free, but when he began to run they shot him down ; and they gave strong drink to our four people, and told them to give up the best part of our hunting ground for a thousand dol lars every twelve moons. What right had they to give our men strong drink, and then cheat them ? None. "American white faces came with great, big gun, to build a fort, and said it was to trade with us. They treated the Indians ill : we went against the fort. I dug a hole in the ground with my knife, so that I could hide myself with some grass. I shot with my rifle and cut the cord of their flag, so that they could not pull it up to fly in the air ; and we fired the fort, but they put out the fire. "The American pale faces and the British pale faces went to war. I knew not what to do when the British held talks with us. We did not like the Americans ; they never did the same as they said ; but the British did better. " One of our people killed a white, and was taken. He was to die, but asked leave to go and see his squaw and children. They let him go, but he ran back through the prairies next day, in time to be shot down. He did not say he would come back and then stay ; he was an Indian, and BLACK HAWK AND THE BRITISH. 69 not an American. I hunted and fished for his squaw and children when he was dead. " Why was it that the Great Spirit did not keep the white men where he put them ? Why did he let them come among my people with their fire-drink, sickness, and guns ? It had been better or red men to be by themselves. Now hearken to Black Hawk, for he speaks the truth. Our great American father told some of our people, who went to him in Washington, that he wished us neither to fight for him, nor for the British. They told him that the British let them have goods at the fall, that we might be able to hunt and pay for them after. < You shall have goods/ said he, < at Fort Madison, in the way the British let you have them.' But, when we went to the fort, they would not let us have any. 'What could we do? Was not this de ceiving us ? Was not this making us go over to the British ? It was. " A British trader landed at Rock Island, and sent us word that he had presents and good news for us, and he sent us pipes and tobacco. Often has Black Hawk seen the prairie on fire : this news was just like it ; it ran fast. We went to the trader, he was not like the Americans ; he did what he said ; he gave us a keg of rum, and let us have a^ his goods, to be paid for with furs and peltries when the spring came. Guns were fired, the British flag was then run up high, flying in the wind. u We went fo a great English brave, Colonel Dixon, at Green Bay : there were many Potowatemies, Kickapoos, Ottowas, and Winnebagoes there. The great brave gave us pipes, tobacco, new guns, powder and clothes. I held a talk with him in his tent; he took my hand. General Black Hawk,' said he, and he put a medal round my neck, ' you must now hold us fast by the hand ; you will have the command of all the braves to join our own braves at Detroit.' I was sorry, because I wanted to go to Missis sippi. But he said, ( No ; you are too brave to kill women and children : you must kill braves/ 70 WAR EXCURSIONS. < We had a feast, and I led away five hundred braves to join the British. Sometimes, we won, and sometimes we lost. The Indians were killing the prisoners, but Black Hawk stopped them. He is a coward who kills a brave that has no arms and cannot fight. I did not like so often to be beaten in battle, and to get no plunder. I left the British, with twenty of my braves, to go home, and see after my wife and children. I found an old friend of mine sitting on a mat in sorrow; he had come to be alone, and to make himself little before the Great Spirit : he had fasted long, he was hardly alive ; his son had been taken prisoner, and shot and stabbed to death. I put my pipe to my friend's mouth : he smoked a little. I took his hand, and said, < Black Hawk would revenge his son's death.' A storm came on; I wrapped my old 'friend in my blanket. The storm gave over ; I made a fire. It was too late ; my friend was dead. I stopped with him the balance of the night ; and then my people came, and we buried him on the peak of the bluff. " I explained to my people the way the white men fight. Instead of stealing on each other, quietly and by surprise, to kill their enemies, and save their own people ; they all fight in the sun-light, like braves ; not caring how many of their people fall. They then feast and drink as if nothing had happened, and write on paper that they have won, whether they have won or been beaten. And they do not write truth, for they only put down a part of the people they have lost. They would do to paddle a canoe, but not to steer it. They fight like braves, but they are not fit to be chiefs, and to lead war parties. " I found my wife well, and my children, arid would have been quiet in my lodge ; for, while I was away, Kee- o-kuk had been made a chief: but I had to revenge the death of the son of my old friend. I told my friend so when he was dying. Why should Black Hawk speak a lie? I took with me thirty braves, and went to Fort Madison ; but the American pale faces had gone. I was PEACE MADE WITH THE AMERICANS. 71 glad, but still followed them down the Mississippi. I went on their trail. I shot the chief of the party with whom we fought. We returned home, bringing two scalps. Black Hawk had done what he said. " Many things happened. Old Wash-e-own, one of the Potowatemies, was shot dead by a war chief. I gave Wash-e-own's relations two horses and my rifles, to keep the peace. A party of soldiers built a fort at Prairie du Chien. They were friendly to us, but the British came and took the fort. We joined them ; we followed the boats and shot fire-arrows, and the sails of one boat was burned, and we took it. " We found in the boats we had taken, barrels of whis key : this was bad medicine. We knocked in the heads of the barrels, and emptied them of the bad medicine. We found bottles and packages, which we flung into the river, as bad medicine too. We found guns and clothes, which I divided with my braves. The Americans built a fort; I went towards it with my braves. I had a dream, in which the Great Spirit told me to go down the bluff to a creek, and to look in a hollow tree cut down, and there I should see a snake ; close by would be the enemy un armed. I went to the creek, peeped into the tree, saw the snake, and found the enemy. One man of them was killed, after that we returned home : peace was made between the British and Americans, and we were to bury the tomahawk too. " We went to the great American chief at St. Louis, and smoked the pipe of peace. The chief said our great American father was angry with us, and accused us of crimes. We said this was a lie ; for our great father had deceived us, and forced us into a war. They were angry at what we said ; but we smoked the pipe of peace again, and I first touched the goose quill ; but I did not know that, in doing so, I gave away my village. Had I known it, I would never have touched the goose quill. " The American whites built a fort on Rock Island ; this 72 WHITES SEIZE THE HUNTING GROUNDS. made us sorry, for it was our garden, like what the white people have near their big villages. It supplied us with plums, apples, and nuts; with strawberries and blackber ries. Many happy days had I spent on Rock Island. A good spirit had the care of it ; he lived under the rock, in a cave. He was white, and his wings were ten times bigger than swan's wings: when the white men came there, he went away. " We had corn, and beans, and pumpkins, and squashes. We were the possessors of the valley of the Mississippi, full seven hundred miles from the Ouisconsin to the Portage des Sioux, near the mouth of the Missouri. If another prophet had come to us in those days, and said, i The white man will drive you from these hunting grounds, and from this village, and Rock Island, and not let you visit the graves of your fathers ;' we should have said, < Why should you tell us a lie ?' " It was good to go to the graves of our fathers. The mother went there to weep over her child : the brave went there to paint the post where lay his father. There was no place in sorrow like that where the bones of our forefathers lay. There the Great Spirit took pity on us. In our village, we were as happy as a buffalo on the plains ; but now we are more like the hungry and howling wolf in the prairie. "As the whites came nearer to us, we became more unhappy. They gave our people strong liquor, and 1 could not keep them from drinking it. My eldest son, and my youngest daughter died. I gave away all I had ; blackened my face for two years, lived alone with my family to humble myself before the Great Spirit. I had only a piece of buffalo robe to cover me. "White men came and took part of our lodges; and Kee-o-kuk told me I had better go west, as he had done. I said I could not forsake my village ; the prophet told me I was right. I thought then that Kee-o-kuk was no brave, FRAUDS BY THE WHITE MEN. 73 but a coward, to give up what the Great Spirit had given us. " The white men grew more and more ; brought whiskey among us ; cheated us out of our guns, our horses, and our traps, and ploughed up our grounds. They treated us cruelly ; and while they robbed us, said that we robbed them. They made right look like wrong, and wrong like right. I tried hard to get right, but could not. The white man wanted my village, and back I must go. Sixteen thou sand dollars every twelve moons are to be given to the Potowatemies for a little strip of land, while one thousand dollars only was set down for our land signed away, worth twenty times as much. White man is too great a cheat for red man. "A great chief, with many soldiers, came to drive us away. I went to the prophet, who told me not to be afraid. They only wanted to frighten us, and get our land without paying for it. I had a talk with the great chief. He said if I would go ; well. If I would not ; he would drive me. 'Who is Black Hawk?' said he. <I am a Sac/ said I; < my forefather was a Sac ; and all the nation call me a Sac.' But he said I must go. " I crossed the Mississippi with my people, during the night, and we held a council. I touched the goose quill again, and they gave us some corn, but it was soon gone. Then our women and children cried out for the roasting ears, the- beans, and squashes they had been used to. And some of our braves went back in the night, to steal some corn from our own fields : the whites saw them, and fired upon them. " I wished our great American father to do us justice. I wished to go to him with others, but difficulties were thrown in the way. I consulted the prophet, and recruited my bands to take my village again ; for I knew that it had been sold by a few, without the consent of the many. It was a cheat. I said, ( I will not leave the place of my fathers.' K 7 74 WAR REiNEWED DOG FEAST. " With my braves and warriors, on s horseback, I moved up the river, and took with us our women and children in canoes. Our prophet was among us. The great war chief White Beaver, General Atkinson, sent twice to tell us to go back ; and that, if we did not, he would come and drive us. Black Hawk's message was this, < If you wish to fight us, come on.' " We were soon at war ; but I did not wish it : I tried to be at peace ; but when I sent parties with a white flag, some of my parties were shot down. The whites behaved ill to me, they forced me into war, with five hundred war riors, when they had against us three or four thousand. I often beat them, driving back hundreds, with a few braves, not half their number. We moved on to the Four Lakes. " I made a dog feast before I left my camp. Before my braves feasted, I took my great medicine bag, and made a speech to my people ; this was my speech : " ' Braves and warriors ! these are the medicine bags of our forefather, Muk-a-ta-quet, who was the father of the Sac nation. They were handed down to the great war chief of our nation, Na-na-ma-kee, who has been at war with all the nations of the lakes, and all the nations of the plains, and they have never yet been disgraced. I expect you all to protect them.' " We went to Mos-co-ho-co-y-nak, Apple River, where the whites had built a fort. We had several battles ; but the whites so much outnumbered us, it was in vain. We had not enough to eat. We dug roots, and pulled the bark from trees, to keep us alive ; some of our old people died of hunger. I determined to remove our women across the Mississippi, that they might return again to the Sac nation. We arrived at the Ouisconsin, and had begun crossing over, when the enemy came in great force. We had either to fight, or to sacrifice our women and children. I was mounted on a fine horse, and addressed my warriors, encour aging them to be brave. With fifty of them I fought long BLACK HAWK AT WASHINGTON. 75 enough to let our women cross the river, losing only six men : this was conduct worthy a brave. " It was sad for us that a party of soldiers from Prairie du Chien were stationed on the Ouisconsin, and these fired on our distressed women: was- this brave? No. Some were killed, some taken prisoners, and the balance escaped into the woods. After many battles, I found the white men too strong for us ; and thinking there would be no peace while Black Hawk was at the head of his braves, I gave myself up, and my great medicine bag. i Take it/ said I. - ' It is the soul of the Sac nation : It has never been dishon oured in any battle. Take it ; it is my life, dearer than life ; let it be given to the great American chief. " I understood afterwards, a large party of Sioux set upon our women, children, and people, who had crossed the Mississippi, and killed sixty of them : this was hard, and ought not to have been allowed by the whites. " I was sent to Jefferson Barracks, and afterwards to my great American father at Washington. He wanted to know why I went to war with his people. I said but little, for I thought he ought to have known why before, and perhaps he did ; perhaps he knew that I was deceived and forced into war. His wigwam is built very strong. I think him to be a good little man, and a great brave. " I was treated well at all the places I passed through , Louisville, Cincinnati, and Wheeling ; and afterwards at Fortress Monroe, Baltimore, Philadelphia, and the big vil lage New York ; and I was allowed to return home again to my people, of whom Kee-o-kuk, the Running Fox, is now the chief. I sent for my great medicine bag, for I wished to hand it down unsullied to my nation. " It has been said that Black Hawk murdered women and children among the whites ; but it is not true. When the white man takes my hand, he takes a hand that has only been raised against warriors and braves. It has always been our custom to receive the stranger, and to use him well. The white man shall ever be welcome among 76 A NEW CHIEF. us as a brother. What is done is past; we have buried the tomahawk, and the Sacs, and Foxes, and Americans will now be friends. "As I said, I am an old man, and younger men must take my place. A few more snows, a few more sun-downs, and I shall go after my fathers to where they are. It is the wish of the heart of Black Hawk, that the Great Spirit may keep the red men and pale faces in peace, and that the tomahawk may be buried for ever." Austin. Poor Black Hawk ! He went through a great deal. And"Kee-o-kuk, the Running Fox, was made chief instead of him. Hunter. Kee-o-kuk was a man more inclined to peace than war ; for, while Black Hawk was righting, he kept two thirds of the tribe in peace. The time may come, when Indians may love peace as much as they now love war; and the "peace of God which passeth all understand ing," may " keep their hearts and minds in the knowledge and love of God, and of his Son Jesus Christ our Lord." Austin. Now, just before we go, will you please to tell us a little about a buffalo hunt ; just a little, and then we shall talk about it, and about Black Hawk, all the way home. Hunter. Well, it must be a short account now ; perhaps I may describe another hunt, more at length, another time. In hunting the buffalo, the rifle, the lance, and the bow and arrow are used, as the case may be. 1 have hunted with the Camanchees in the Mexican provinces, who are famous horsemen ; with the Sioux on the Mississippi ; the Crows on the Yellow-stone River; and the Pawnees at the Rocky Mountains. One morning, when among the Crows, a muster took place for a buffalo hunt : you may be sure that I joined them, for at that time I was almost an Indian myself. Austin. How did you prepare for the hunt ? Hunter. As soon as we had notice, from the top of a bluff in the distance, that a herd of buffaloes were seen on PREPARING FOR A BUFFALO HUNT. 77 BUFFALOES OR BISONS. th* rairie, we prepared our horses ; while some Indians we, ; directed to follow our trail, with one-horse carts, to brinv; home the meat. Bi \ in. You made sure, then, that you should kill some buffau.es. Hu v l er. Yes ; we had but little doubt on that head. 1 threw D\T my cap; stripped off my coat; tying a handker chief i )und my nead,.and another round my waist ; rolled up my sleeves ; hastily put a few bullets in my mouth, and mountc d a fleet horse, armed with a rifle, and a thin long spear : but most of the Crows had also bows and arrows. Basil. Your thin spear would soon be broken. ^unt^r. No ; these thin long spears are sometimes used, in buffalo hunting, for years without breaking. When an Indian chases a buffalo, if he does not use his rifle or bow and arrow, he rides on fast till he comes up with his game, and makes his horse gallop just the same pace as the buffalo. 78 BUFFALO HUNTING. Every bound his horse gives, the Indian keeps moving his spear backwards and forwards across the pommel of his saddle, with the point sideways towards the buffalo. He gallops on in this way, saying, "Whish! whish !" every time he makes a feint, until he finds himself in just the situation to inflict a deadly wound ; then, in a moment with all his strength, he plunges in his lance, quick as lightning, near the shoulders of the buffalo, and withdraws it at the same instant : the lance, therefore, is not broken, though the buffalo may be mortally wounded. Brian. The poor buffalo has no chance at all. Austin. Well ! you mounted your horse, and rode off at full gallop Hunter. No ; we walked our steeds all abreast, until we were seen by the herd of buffaloes. On. catching sight of us, in an instant they set off, and we after them as hard as we could drive, a cloud of dust rising from the prairie, occasioned by the trampling hoofs of the buffaloes. Basil. What a scamper there would be ! Hunter. Rifles were flashing, bowstrings were twang ing, spears were dashed into the fattest of the herd, and buffaloes were falling in all directions. Here was seen an Indian rolling on the ground, and there a horse gored to death by a buffalo bull. I brought down one of the big gest of the herd with my rifle, at the beginning of the hunt ; and, before it was ended, we had as many buffa loes as we knew what to do with. Some of the party had loaded their rifles four or five times, while at full gallop, bringing down a buffalo at every fire. Very willingly would Austin have lingered long enough to hear of half a dozen buffalo hunts; but, bearing in mind what had been said about a longer account at another time, he cordially thanked the hunter for all he had told them, and set off home, with a light heart, in earnest con versation with his brothers. BUFFALO HUNT. CHAPTER VI. Valleys and prairies A flat prairie Bluffs and square hills Floyd's grave Blackbird's grave Fruit grounds in prairie Prairie la Crosse Prairie du Chien Couteau des Prairies Missouri prairies Swan Lake, River rice grounds Lover's leap Salt meadows Savannahs Red Pipe-stone quarry. ASTING was the impression made on the minds of the young people by the hun ter's description of the buf falo hunt ; and the manner of using the long, thin lance called forth their wonder, and excited their emulation. Austin became a Caman- chee, from the Mexican provinces, the Camanchees being among the most expert lancers and horsemen ; Brian" called himself a Sioux, from the Mississippi ; and Basil styled himself a Pawnee, from the Rocky Mountains. Many were the plans and expedients to get up a buflalo 79 80 BUFFALO HUNTING. hunt upon a large scale, but the difficulty of procuring buf faloes was insurmountable. Austin, it is true, did suggest an inroad among the flock of sheep of a neighbouring far mer, maintaining that the scampering of the sheep would very much resemble the flight of a herd of buffaloes ; but this suggestion was given up. on the ground that the farmer might not think it so entertaining an amusement as they did. It was doubtful at one time, whether, in their extremity, they should not be compelled to convert. the chairs and tables into buffaloes ; but Austin, whose heart was in the thing, had a bright thought, which received universal ap probation. This was to make buffaloes of their playfellow Jowler, the Newfoundland dog, and the black torn cat. Jowler, with his shining shaggy skin, was sure to make a capital buffalo ; and Black Tom would do very well, as buf faloes were not all of one size. To work they went imme diately, to prepare themselves for their adventurous underta king, dressing -themselves up for the approaching enterprise ; and, if they did not succeed in making themselves look like Red Indians, they certainly did present a most grotesque appearance. In the best projects, however, there is oftentimes an over sight, which bids fair to ruin the whole undertaking; and so it was on this occasion ; for it never occurred to them, until they were habited as hunters, to secure the attendance of Jowler and Black Tom. Encumbered with their lances, bows, arrows, and hanging dresses, they had to search the whole house, from top to bottom, in quest of Black Tom, and when he was found, it was equally neces sary to sally forth in search of Jowler ; but as young peo pie very seldom lack perseverance in their sports, and as perseverance usually attains 'its end, both Jowler and Black Tom were at length found, and they were led forth to the lawn, which was considered to be an excellent prairie. No sooner was the signal given for the hunt to com mence, than Black Tom, being set at liberty, instead of ac- BUFFALO HUNTING. 81 ting his part like a buffalo, ^ he ought to have done, scampered across the lawn to the shrubbery, and ran up. an acacia tree ; while Jowler made a rush after him; so that the hunt appeared to have ended almost as soon as it was begun. Jowler was brought back again to the middle of the lawn, but no device could prevail on Black Tom to descend from the eminence he had attained. Once more Jowler, the buffalo, was set at liberty ; and Austin, Brian, and Basil, the Carnanchee, Sioux, and Pawnee chieftains, brandished their long lances,*preparing for the chase : but it seemed as though they were to be dis appointed, for Jowler, instead of running away, as he was bound to do, according to the plan of the hunters, pro voking] y kept leaping up, first at one, and then at another of them; until, having overturned the Pawnee on the lawn, and put the Sioux and Camanchee out of all pa tience, he lay down panting, with his long red tongue out of his mouth, looking at them just as though he had acted his part of the affair capitally. At last, not being able to reduce the refractdry Jowler to obedience, no other expedient remained than that of one of them taking the part of a buffalo on himself. Austin was very desirous that this should be done by Brian or Basil ; but they insisted that he, being the biggest, was most like a buffalo. The affair was at length compromised, by each agreeing to play the buffalo in turn. A desperate hunt then took place, in the course of which their long lances were most skilfully and effectually used; three buffaloes were slain, and the Camanchee, Sioux, and Pawnee return ed in triumph from the chase, carrying a buffalo-hide (a rug mat from the hall) on the tops of their spears. On their next visit to the hunter, they reminded him that, the last time he saw them, he had intended to speak about the prairies ; but that the history of Black Hawk, and the account of the buffalo hunt, had taken up all the time. They told him that they had come early, on purpose 82 VALLEYS AND PRAIRIES. to hear a long account ; and, perhaps, he would be able to tell them all about Nikkanochee into the bargain. The hunter replied, if that was the case, the sooner he began his narrative the better ; so, without loss of time, he thus commenced his account. Hunter. Though in North America there are dull mono tonous rivers, with thick slimy waters, stagnant swamps, and pine forests almost immeasurable in extent ; yet, still, some of the most beautiful and delightful scenes in the whole wdfcd are there Austin. How big are the prairies ? I want to know more about them. Hunter. They extend for thousands of miles, though not without being divided and diversified with other scenery 1 . Mountains, and valleys, and forests, and rivers, vary the appearance of the country. The valley of Connecticut is very fertile and beautiful ; though oftentimes, in March or April, there is a freshet there, occasioned by the melting of the snow. The waters thus formed, swell suddenly, break loose from the valley, and sweep away every thing before them. Basil. I shall remember the valley of Connecticut. Hunter. The valleys of Missouri, Red River, Housa- tonic, Mohawk, Hudson, Susquehannah, and others are full of intereresting scenes ; but the valley of Mississippi, with the exception of that of the Amazon, in South America, is the largest in the world, It reaches from cold Canada to the sunny tropics, and from Ohio eastward to Missouri westward. You must remember that a prairie is a. plain. What are called, in the southern states, savannahs; in South America, pampas ; in Europe, heaths ; in Asia, steppes ; and in Africa, deserts ; in North America are called prairies. Austin. Ay ; we cannot forget that now. Remember, Brian and Basil, that in future we shall caH Furse Common ? Furse Prairie. Hunter. The name prairie was given to the plains of BLUFFS AND CRAGS. 83 North America by the French settlers. Prairie is the French word for meadow. I will describe some prairie scenes which have particularly struck me. These vast plains are sometimes flat ; sometimes undulated, like the large waves of the sea ; sometimes barren ; sometimes covered with flowers and fruit ; and sometimes there is grass growing on them eight or ten feet high. Brian. I never heard of such grass as that. Hunter. A prairie on fire is one of the most imposing spectacles you can imagine. The flame is urged on by the winds, running and spreading out with swiftness and fury, roaring like a tempest, and driving before it deer, wolves, horses, and buffaloes, in wild confusion. Austin. How I should like to see a prairie on fire ! Hunter. In Missouri, Arkansas, Indiana, and -Lousiana, prairies abound ; and the whole state of Illinois is little els than a prairie altogether. From the Falls of the Missouri to St. Louis, a distance of between two and three thousand miles, a constant succession of prairie and river scenes, of the most arresting kind, meet the eye. Here the rich green velvet turf spreads out immeasurably wide ; breaking towards the river into innumerable hills and dales, bluffs and ravines, where mountain goats, and wolves, and ante lopes, and elks, and buffaloes, and grizzly bears roam in unrestrained liberty. At one time, the green bluff slopes easily down to the water's edge ; while, in other places, the ground at the edge of the river presents to the eye an end less variety of hill and bluff, and crag, taking the shapes of ramparts and ruins, of columns, porticoes, terraces, domes, towers, citadels, and castles ; while here and there rises a solitary spire, which might well pass for the work of human hands. But the whole scene varying in colour, and lit up and gilded by the mid-day sun, speaks to the heart of the spectator, convincing him that none but an Almighty hand could thus clothe the wilderness with beauty. Jlustin. There, Brian ! Do you not wish now to see the prairies of North America ? 84 JOURNEY OVER A PRAIRIE. Brian. Yes ; if I could see them without going among the tomahawks and scalping knives. Hunter. I remember one part, where the ragged cliffs and cone-like bluffs, partly washed away by the rains, and partly crumbled down by the frosts, seemed to be composed of earths of a mineral kind, of clay of different colours, and of red pumice stone. The clay was white, brown, yel low, and deep blue ; while the pumice stone, lit up by the sunbeam, was red as vermilion. The loneliness, the wild- ness, and romantic beauty of the scene I am not likely to forget. Basil. I should like to see those red rocks very much. Hunter. For six days I once continued my course, with a party of Indians, across the prairie, without setting my eyes on a single tree, or a single hill affording variety to the scene. Grass, wild flowers, and strawberries, abounded more or less through the whole extent. The spot where we found ourselves at sun-down, appeared to be exactly that from which we started at sunrise. There was little variety, even in the sky itself ; and it would have been a relief, so soon are we weary even of beauty itself, to have walked a mile over rugged rocks, or to have forced our way through a gloomy pine wood, or to have climbed the sides of a steep mountain. Brian. I hardly think that I should ever be tired of green grass, and flowers, and strawberries. Hunter. Oh yes, you would. Variety in the works of creation is a gift of our bountiful Creator, for which we are not sufficiently thankful. Look at the changing seasons ; how beautifully they vary the same prospect ! and regard the changing clouds of heaven ; what an infinite and plea surable variety they aflbrd to us ! If the world were all sunshine, we should long for the shade ; and were we to feed on nothing but honey, we should soon dislike it as much as the bitterest gall. Austin. What is it that you mean by bluffs ? Hunter. Round hills, or huge clayey mounds, often FLOYD'S GRAVE. 85 covered with grass and flowers to the very top. Some times they have a verdant turf on their tops, while their sides display a rich variety of many coloured earths, and thousands of gypsum crystals imbedded in the clay. The romantic mixture of bluffs, and square hills, with summits of green grass as level as the top of a table, with huge fragments of pumice stone and cinders, the remains of burning mountains, and granite sand, and layers of different coloured clay, and cornelian, and agate, and jaspar-like pebbles; these, with the various animals that graze or prowl among them, and the rolling river, and bright blue sky, altogether are almost enough to make a spectator of quick feeling scream with joy. Few sights have afforded me more bewildering delight. Austin. I should scream out I -am sure. Basil. And then perhaps you would have a grizzly bear after you. Hunter. Some of the hunters -and trappers believe that the great valley of the Missouri was once level with the tops of the table hills, and that the earth has been washed away by the river, and other causes ; but the subject is involved in much doubt. It has pleased God to put a boun dary to the knowledge of man in many things. " We are but of yesterday, and know nothing, because our days upon earth are a shadow," Job viii. 9. I think I ought to tell you of Floyd's grave. Austin. Oh, yes ! Who was Floyd ? Hunter. You shall hear. In the celebrated expedition of Clark and Lewis to the Rocky mountains, they were accompanied by Serjeant Floyd, who died on the way. His body was carried to the top of a high, green-carpeted bluff, on the Missouri river, and there buried, and a cedar post was erected to his memory. As I sat on his grave, and looked around me, the stillness and the extreme beauty of the scene much affected me. I had endured much toil, both in hunting and rowing ; sometimes being in danger from the grizzly bears, and, and at others, with difficulty escaping 8 86 BLACKBIRD'S GRAVE. the war parties of the Indians. My rifle had been busy, and the swan and the pelican, the antelope and the elk, had supplied me with food ; and as I sat on the grassy and wild flower-grave, in that beautiful bluff in the wilderness the enamelled prairie, the thousand grassy hills that were visible, with their golden heads, and long deep shadows for the sun was setting, the Missouri winding its serpentine course, and the whole scene together was of the most beautiful and tranquil kind. The soft whispering of the evening breeze, and the distant, subdued and melancholy howl of the wolf, were the only sounds that reached my ears. It was a very solitary, and yet a very delightful scene. Basil. I should not like to be by myself in such a place as that. Hunter. There is another high bluff not many miles from the cedar post of poor Floyd, that is well known as the burial-place of Blackbird, a famous^ chief of the 0-ma- haw tribe ; the manner of his burial was extremely strange. Brian. Now for the burial of Blackbird, the chief of the 0-ma-haws. Hunter. As I was pulling up the river, a voyageur told me the story ; and, when I had heard it, we pushed our canoe into a small creek, that I might visit the spot ; climb ing up the velvet sides of the bluff, I sat me down by the cedar post on the grave of Blackbird. Austin* But what was the story ? what was there strange in the burial of the chief? Hunter. Blackbird, on his way home from the city of Washington, where he had been, died with the small-pox. Before his death, he desired his warriors to bury him on the bluff, sitting on the back of his favourite war-horse, that he might see, as he said, the Frenchmen boating up and down the river. His beautiful white steed was led up to the top of the bluff, and there the body of Blackbird was placed astride upon him. Brian. What a strange thing ! Hunter. Blackbird had his bow in his hand, his beautiful RED RIVER PRAIRIES. 87 head dress of war-eagle plumes on his head, his shield and quiver at his side, and his pipe and medicine bag. His tobacco pouch was filled, to supply him on his journey to the hunting grounds of his fathers ; and he had flint and steel wherewith to light his pipe by the way. Every war rior painted his hand with vermillion, and then pressed it against the white horse, leaving a mark behind him. After the necessary ceremonies had been performed, Blackbird and his white-horse were covered over with turf, till they were no more seen. Jlustin. But was the white horse buried alive? Hunter. He was. The turfs were put about his feet, then piled up his legs, then placed against his sides, then over his back, and lastly over Blackbird himself and his war-eagle plumes. Brian. That was a very cruel deed ! They had no busi ness to smother that beautiful white horse in that way. Basil. And so I say. It was a great shame, and I do not like that Blackbird. Hunter. Red Indians have strange customs. Now I am on the subject of prairie scenes, I ought to speak a word of the prairies of the Red River. 1 had been for some time among the Creeks and Choctaws, crossing, here and there, ridges of wooded lands, and tracts of rich herbage, with blue mountains in the distance, when I came to a prairie scene of a new character. For miles together the ground was covered with vines, bearing endless clusters of large delicious grapes ; and then, after crossing a few broad valleys of green turf, our progress was stopped by hun dreds of acres of plum trees, bending to the very ground with their fruit. Among these were interspersed patches of rose trees, wild currants, and gooseberries, with prickly pears, and the most beautiful and sweet-scented wild flowers. Austin. I never heard of so delightful a place. What do you think of the prairies now, Basil ? Should you not like to gather some of those fruits and flowers, Brian ? 88 BEAUTIFUL PRAIRIES. Hunter. And then, just as I was stretching out my hand to gather some of the delicious produce of that paradise of fruit and flowers, I heard the shake of a rattlesnake, that was preparing to make a spring, and I saw the glistening eyes of a copper-head, which I had disturbed beneath the tendrils and leaves. Basil. What do you think of the prairie now, Austin ? Brian. And should you not like to gather some of those fruits and flowers ? Austin. I never expected that, there would be snakes among them. Hunter. The wild creatures of these delightful spots may be said to live in a garden ; here they pass their lives, rarely disturbed by the approach of man. The hunter and the trapper, however thoughtlessly they pursue their calling, are at times struck with the amazing beauty of the scenes that burst upon them. God is felt to be in the prairie. The very solitude disposes the mind to acknow ledge him ; earth and skies proclaim his presence ; the fruits of the ground declare his bounty ; and, in the flowers, ten thousand forget-me-nots bring his goodness to remembrance. " Great .is the Lord, and greatly to be praised; and his greatness is unsearchable," Psa. cxlv. 3. Austin. I could not have believed that there had been such beautiful places in the prairies. Hunter. Some parts are varied, and others monotonous. Some are beautiful, and others far from being agreeable. The Prairie la Crosse, the Prairie du Chien, and the Cou- teau des Prairies on the Mississippi, with the prairies on the Missouri, all have some points of attraction. I did intend to say a little about Swan Lake, the wild rice grounds, Lover's Leap, the salt meadows on the Missouri, the Savannah in the Florida pine woods, and Red Pipe-stone quarry ; but as I intend to give you the history of Nik- kanochee, perhaps I had better begin with it at once. Austin. We shall like to hear of Nikkanochee, but it is LOVER'S LEAP. 89 so pleasant to hear about the prairies, that you must, if you please, tell us a little more about them first. Basil. I want to hear about those prairie dogs. Brian. And I want to hear of Lover's Leap. Austin. What I wish to hear the most is about the Red Pipe-stone quarry. Please just to tell us a little about them all. Hunter. Well ! So that you will be satisfied with a little, I will go on. Swan Lake is one of the most beauti ful objects in the prairies of North America : it extends for many miles; and the islands with which it abounds are richly covered with forest trees. Fancy to yourselves unnumbered islands with fine trees, beautifully grouped to gether, and clusters of swans on the water in every direc tion. If you want to play at Robinson Crusoe, one of the islands on Swan Lake will be just the place for you. Basil. Well it may be called Swan Lake. Hunter. The first time that I saw wild rice gathered, it much surprised and amused me. A party of Sioux Indian women were paddling about, near the shores of a large lake, in canoes made of bark ; while one woman paddled the canoe, the other gathered the wild rice, which flourished there in great abundance, by bending it over the canoe with one stick, and then striking it with another ; the grains of rice fell in profusion into the canoe. In this way they proceeded, till they obtained full cargoes of wild rice to consume as food. Brian. I wish we had wild rice growing in our pond. Hunter. What I have to say of Lover's Leap, is a little melancholy. On the east side of Lake Pepin, on the Missis sippi, stands a bold rock, lifting up its aspiring head some six or seven hundred feet above the surface of the lake. Some years since, as the story goes, an Indian chief wished * his daughter to marry a husband that she did not like. The daughter declined, but the father insisted ; and the poor, distracted girl, to get rid of her difficulty, threw her- M 8* 90 SALT SPRINGS AND PRAIRIES. self, in the presence of her tribe, from the top of the rock, and was dashed to pieces. Basil. Poor girl ! Her father was a very cruel man. Hunter. The chief was cruel, and his daughter rash ; but we must not be severe in judging those who have no better standard of right and wrong than the customs of their uncivilized tribe. Had that Indian chief and his daughter known the gospel of peace, and been influenced by the principles of Christianity, he would have been kind- hearted and merciful ;" " Blessed are the merciful : for they shall obtain mercy," Matt. v. 7 : and she would have been patient and obedient. " If, when ye do well, and suifer for it, ye take it patiently, this is acceptable with God," 1 Pet. ii. 20. The best use to which we can put this account, is to look up for strength and grace, to enable us to avoid their errors. It was on the Upper Missouri river, towards the mouth of the Teton river, that I came all at once on a salt meadow. You would have thought that it had been snowing for an hour or two, for the salt lay an inch or two thick on the ground. Austin. What could have brought it there ? Hunter. The same Almighty hand that spreads out the wild prairie, spreads the salt upon its surface. There are salt springs in many places, where the salt water floods over the prairie. The hot sun evaporates the water, and the salt is left behind. Brian. Well, that is very curious. Hunter. The buffaloes and other animals corne by thou sands to lick the salt, so that what with the green prairie round, the white salt, and the black buffaloes, the contrast in colour is very striking. Though Florida is, to a great extent, a sterile wilderness; yet for that very reason, some of its beautiful spots appear the more beautiful. There are swamps enough, and alligators enough, lo make the traverser of those weary wilds cheerless and disconsolate ; but when, after plodding, day after day, through dreary morasses and interminable pine woods, listening to nothing but the cry RED PIPE-STONE QUARRY. 91 of cranes and the howling of wolves, he comes suddenly into an open savannah of grouped palmettos, and a carpet of grass and myriads of wild flowers, his eye brightens, and he recovers his cheerfulness and strength. He again feels that God is in the prairie, Basil. Remember the alligators, Austin ! Brian. And the howling wolves ! What do you think of them ? Austin. And what do you think of the savannah of grass, and flowers, and tall palmettos ? Hunter. The Red Pipe-stone Quarry is in the Couteau du Prairie ; it may be a hundred miles or more from the St. Peter's river, between the Upper Mississippi and the Upper Missouri. It is the place where the Red Indians of North America procure the red stone with which they make all their pipes. The place is considered by them to be sacred. They say that the Great Spirit used to stand on the rock, and that the blood of the buffaloes which he ate there ran into the rocks below, and turned them red. Austin. That is the place I want to see. Hunter. If you go there, you must take great care of yourself; for the Sioux will be at your heels. As I said, they hold the place sacred, and consider the approach of a white man a kind of profanation. The place is visited by all the neighbouring tribes for stone with which to make their pipes, whether they are at war or peace ; for the Great Spirit, say they, always watches over it, and the war-club and scalping knife are there harmless. There are hun dreds of old inscriptions on the face of the rocks ; and the wildest traditions are handed down, from father to son, respecting the place. Some of the Sioux say, that the Great Spirit once sent his runners abroad, to call together all the tribes that were at war, to the Red Pipe-stone Quarry.* As he stood on the top of the rocks, he took out a piece of red stone, and made a large pipe ; he smoked it over them, and told them, that, though at war, they must always be at peace at that place, for that it belonged to one as much as 92 RED PIPE-STONE QUARRY. to another, and that they must all make their pipes of the stone. Having thus spoken, a great cloud of smoke from his great red pipe rolled over them, and in it he vanished away. Just at the moment that he took the last whiif of his great, long, red pipe, the rocks were wrapped in a blaze of fire, so that the surface of them was melted. Two squaws, then, in a flash of fire, sunk under the two medicine rocks, and no one can take away red stone from the place without their leave. Where the gospel is unknown, there is nothing too improbable to be received. The day will, no doubt, arrive when the wild traditions of Red Pipe-stone Quarry will be done away by the spread of the gospel of the Redeemer. Here the hunter, having to attend his sheep, left the three brothers, to amuse themselves for half an hour with the curiosities in his cottage ; after which, he returned to redeem his pledge, by relating the history he had promised them. INDIAN CHAPTER VII. The Seminole Indians King of the Red Hills Oceola A counci* Agreement to an exchange of land Oceola refuses to sign the contract, and dashes his dagger through it Oceola made prisoner, and afterwards set at liberty His message to the whites Oceola treacherously made prisoner again His death Adventures of Nikkanochee^ prince of Econchatti. UICELY after they were seated the hunter began (( and now," said he, "for my ac count of Nikkanochee, prince of Econchatti. I met with him in Florida, his own country, when he was quite a child; indeed he is even now but a boy, not being more than twelve or thirteen years of age. i;I saw him latterly in London. His history will, I think, interest and amuse you. The Semi nole Indians, a mixed tribe, from whom prince Nikkanochee is descended, were a warlike people, settled on the banks 93 94 THE CHIEF OCEOLA. of the Chattahoochee and Coaeta, in Florida. In a battle which took place between the Indians and a party of whites, under Major Dade, out of a hundred and fourteen white men, only two escaped the tomahawks of tbeir oppo nents. A Seminole was about to despatch one of these two, when he suddenly called to mind that the soldier had once helped him in fitting a handle to his axe : this arrested his uplifted weapon, and the life of the soldier was spared." Austin. Noble ! noble ! If all the Seminoles were like him, they were a noble people. Hunter. The tribe had good and bad qualities ; but I tell you this anecdote, because it affords another proof that the hardy Indian warrior, in the midst of all his relentless ani mosity against his enemy, is still alive to a deed of kind ness. On another occasion, when the Seminoles, to avenge injuries which their tribe had received, wasted the neigh borhood with fire and tomahawk, they respected the dwell ing of one who had shown kindness to some of their tribe. Even though they visited his house, and cooked their food at his hearth, they did no injury to his person or his property. Other dwellings around it were burned to the ground, but for years his habitation remained secure from any attack on the part of the grateful Seminoles. Basil. When I go abroad, I will always behave kindly to the poor Indians. Hunter. That is right ; " do unto others as you would they should do unto you." But I will go on with my relation. The father of Nikkanochee was king of the Red Hills, in the country of the Seminoles ; but not being very much distinguished as a warrior, he gave up the command of his fighting men to his brother Oceola, a chief famous for bodily strength and courage. Before*the war broke out between the Seminoles, Oceola was kind and generous ; but when once the war-cry had rung through the woods, and the tomahawk had been raised, he became stern and im placable. He was the champion of his nation, and the ter ror of the pale faces opposed to him. THE CHIEF OCEOLA. 95 Brian. He must have made terrible work with his toma hawk ! Hunter. No doubt he did, for he was bold, and had never been taught to control his passions ; the command of the Saviour had never reached his ears, " Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you," Matt. v. 44. The red man of the forest and the prairie has had much to embitter his spirit against his enemies; but I wi! I proceed. It was in the year 1835, that between two and three hundred red warriors assembled at Camp King, to hold a "talk," or council. They were met by a battalion of white soldiers, whp had two generals with them. At this council, it was proposed by the whites that a contract should be made between the two parties, wherein the Semi- noles should give up their lands in Florida in exchange for other lands at a great distance from the place. Some of the red warriors were induced to make a cross on the con tract as their signature, showing that they agreed therewith ; but Oceola saw that such a course was bartering away his country, and sealing the ruin of his nation. Austin. I hope he did not put his cross to it. Brian. And so do I. . I hope he persuaded all the rest of the red warriors not to sign it. Hunter. When they asked him in his turn to sign the contract, his lip began to curl with contempt, and his eye to flash with fiery indignation. "Yes!" said he, drawing a poinard from his bosom, with a haughty frown on his brow, " Yes !'' said he, advancing and dashing his dagger while he spoke, not only through the contract, but also through the table on which it lay ; " There is my mark !" tftustin. Well ddne, brave Oceola ! Brian. That is just the way that he ought to have acted. Basil. He was a very bold fellow. But what did the generals say to him ? Hunter. His enemies the whites, for they were enemies, 96 OCEOLA'S REVENGE. directly seized him, and bound him to a tree. This was done in a cruel manner, for the* cords cut deep into his flesh. After this he was manacled and kept as prisoner in solitary confinement. When it was thought that his spirit was sufficiently tamed, and that what he had suffered would operate as a warning to his people, he was set at liberty. Austin. The whites acted a cruel part, and they ought to have been ashamed of themselves. Brian. Yes, indeed. But what did Oceola do when he was free ? Hunter. Revenge is dear to every one whose heart God has not changed; no wonder that it should burn in the bosom of an uneducated Indian. He had never heard the words of Holy Scripture, " Vengeance is mine ; I will repay, saith the Lord/ 7 Rom. xii. 19 ; but rather looked on revenge as a virtue. Hasting to his companions, he made the forest echo with the wild war-whoop that he raised in defiance of his enemies. Brian. I thought he would ! That is the very thing that I expected he would do. Hunter. Many of the principal whites fell by the rifles of the Indians ; and Oceola sent a proud message to Gene ral Clinch, telling him that the Seminoles had a hundred and fifty barrels of gunpowder, every grain of which should be consumed before they would submit to the whites. He told him, too, that the pale faces should be led a dance for five years for the indignities they had put upon him. Oceola and the Seminoles maintained the war until the whites had lost many hundred men, and expended vast sums of money. At last, the brave chieftain was made prisoner by treachery. Austin. How was it ? How did they take him prisoner. Hunter. The whites, under General Hernandez, in vited Oceola to meet them, that a treaty might be made, and the war brought to an end. Oceola went with his warriors; but no sooner had he and eight of his OCEOLA MADE PRISONER. Q* warriors placed their rifles against a tree, protected as they thought by the flag of truce, than they were surrounded by a large body of soldiers, and made prisoners. Brian. That General Hernandez was an unjust and treacherous man : he had no business to have touched one of them while the flag of truce was there. Oceola ought to have kept away from them. Basil. And what did they do to Oceola ? Did they kill him? Hunter. They at first confined him in the fort at St. Augustine, and afterwards in a dungeon at Sullivan's Island, near Charleston. It was in the latter place that he died, his head pillowed on the faithful bosom of his wife, who never forsook him, and never ceased to regard him with homage and affection. He was buried at Fort Moultrie, where he has a monument, inscribed " Oceola." His companions, had they been present at his grave, would not have wept. They would have been glad that he had escaped from his enemies. " We do not weep The red man hath no tear to shed for thee Smiling 1 , we gaze upon the dreamless sleep, The fortress broken, and the captive free." Austin. Poor Oceola ! Hunter. This is only one instance among thousands, in which the red man has fallen a victim to the treachery and injustice of the whites. It is a solemn thought, that when the grave shall give up its dead, and the trumpet shall call together, face to face, the inhabitants of all nations to judg ment ; solemn is the thought, that the deceitful, the unjust, and the cruel will have to meet those whom their de ceit, their injustice, and cruelty have^ destroyed. Well may the oppressor tremble. " The Lord of hosts hath purposed, and who shall disannul it ? and his hand is stretched out, and who shall turn it back ?" Isa. xiv. 27. N 98 FLIGHT OF NIKKANOCHEE. Basil. But you have not yet told us of Nikkanochee Please to let us hear all about him. Brian. Ay ; we have forgotten Nikkanochee. Hunter. I will now tell you all that I know of him ; but I thought you would like to hear of his uncle, he being so famous a warrior. Nikkanochee is called Oceola Nik kanochee, prince of Econchatti ; in order that he may bear in mind Oceola, his warlike uncle, and Econchatti-mico, king of the Red Hills, in Florida, his father. It is thought that Nikkanochee was born on . the banks of the river Chattahoochee. He can just remember the death of his mother, when he was left alone with her in a wigwam ; but whether his father died in battle or captivity he cannot tell. What I have to tell you about Nikkanochee took place during the lifetime of his father, and his uncle Oceola. The white men, the Americans, being at war with the Sem- inoles, the war-men of the latter were obliged to band themselves together to fight, leaving their squaws (wives) and children to travel as- well as they could to a place of safety. Nikkanochee, child as he was, travelled with the women through the pine forests night and day ; but a party of horse soldiers overtook them, and drove them as captives towards the settlements of the whites. Brian. Ay! now Nikkanochee is a prisoner ! What is to become of him now ? Hunter. The mothers \vere almost frantic. The wig wams they saw on the road had been destroyed by fire, and the whole country had been devastated. At nightfall they came to a village ; and here, when'it grew dark, Nik kanochee, a little girl, and two Indian women, make their escape. For some days they fled, living on water melons and Indian corn, till they fell in with a party of their own war-men. Austin. I hope they were safe then. Hunter. Not being numerous, they were obliged tc retreat. Pursued by their enemies, they fled, sometimes on horseback, and sometimes on foot. A part of the way, WANDERINGS OF NIKKANOCHEE. 99 through the swamps, thickets, and pine forests, Nik kanochee rode on the back of his father. At night, while the party were sitting round a fire, in the act of preparing for refreshment some dried meat, and a wild root of the woods reduced into flour, an alarm was given. In a moment they were obliged once more' to fly, for their enemies were upon their track, accompanied with blood hounds. Basil. Bloodhounds ! Hunter. Yes, bloodhounds ! fierce and strong dogs, bred up on purpose to hunt the Red Indians. Brian. Dreadful ! dreadful ! Hunter. The fire was put out by the Indians, their blankets hastily rolled up, and the squaws and children sent to hide themselves in the tangled reeds and brushwood of a swamp, while the war-men turned against the dogs and sol diers. The Indians beat off their enemies, but Econchatti- mico was wounded in the wrist, a musket ball having passed through it. Nikkanochee found his father, faint from loss of blood, lying on the ground. Basil. What sad work it is to have so much fighting between white men and red men ! Why cannot they live at peace, and not act so cruelly ? Brian. You must not interrupt the story, -Basil. I want to know how it all ended. Did Econchatti die of his wound ? Hunter. No ; but he and the war-men, expecting that their enemies would return in greater numbers, were again forced to fly : the dreary pine forest, the weedy marsh, and the muddy swamp were once more passed through. Brooks and rapid rivers were crossed by Econchatti, wounded as he was, with his son on his back. He swam with one hand, for the other was of little use to him. Austin. Econchatti seems to be as brave a man as Oceola. Did they escape from their enemies ? Hunter. While they were sitting down to partake of some wild turkey and deer, with which their bows and arrows had furnished them during their flight, their enemies 100 NIKKANOCHEE CAPTURED. again burst upon them. The Seminoles had, perhaps, alto gether two thousand warriors, with Oceola at their head ; but then the whites had at least ten thousand, to say nothing of their being much better armed. Besides, there were also their ferocious bloodhounds. No wonder that the Seminoles were compelled to fly, and only to fight when they found a favourable opportunity. But I must not dwell longer than necessary on my account ; suffice it to say, that, after all the bravery of the warriors, and all the exertions of Econchatti, Nikkanochee once more fell into the hand of the enemy. Basil. Oh, that was terrible ! I hoped he would get away safe. Brian. So did I. I thought the white men would be tired of following them into those dreary forests and muddy swamps. Hunter. The human heart is bitter and implacable, until it is changed by Divine grace. Then, and not before, the lion becomes the lamb, and cruelty gives way to kindness. If all men truly feared God, and humbly obeyed the injunc tions of the Redeemer, there would be no more heart burn ings, and strife, and bloodshed; but human beings would, in thought, word, and deed, "love one another." Austin. Hew was it that Nikkanochee was taken ? Hunter. He was captured on the 25th of August, 1836, by some soldiers who were scouring the country, and brought by them the next day to Colonel Warren, at New- nansville. Poor little fellow, he was so worn, emaciated, and cast down, that he could not be looked upon without pity. For several weeks he hardly spoke a word. No tear, no sob, nor sigh escaped him ; but he appeared to be continually on the watch to make his escape. The soldiers who had taken him prisoner, declared that they had fol lowed his track full forty miles before they came up to him. From the rising to the setting of the sun they hurried on, and still he was before them. Nikkanochee must then have been only about five or six years old. ACCOUNT OF HIS FLIGHT. 101 Basil. Why, I could not walk so far as forty miles to save my life. How did he manage it ? Hunter. You have not been bicught up ,ike an Indian. Fatigue, and hardship, and danger are endured by red men from their earliest youth. The back to the burden, Basil. You have heard the saying, " God tempers the wind to the shorn lamb." When the soldiers came up to Nikkanochee, he darted into the bushes and long grass, where they found him. At first, he uttered a scream ; but, soon after, he offered the soldiers a peach which he had in his hand, that they might let him go. Placed on horseback behind one of the troopers, he was brought to the military station at New- nansville Brian. They have him now, then, fast enough. I won der what became of Econchatti-mico, his father. Hunter. That is not known. I should have told you that, in the Seminole language, "Econ," means hill or hills; "Chatti," is red; and the signification of "mico," is king : so that Econchatti-mico is, all together, King of the Red Hills. The soldiers who captured Nikkanochee disputed among themselves whether he ought not to be killed. Most of them were for destroying every Indian man, woman, or child they met ; but one of them, named James Shields, was determined to save the boy's life, and it was owing to his hnmanity that Nikkanochee was not put to death. Brian. That man deserves to be rewarded. I shall not forget James Shields. Hunter. When Nikkanochee had afterwards become a little more reconciled to his situation, he gave some account of the way in which he was taken. He said, that as he was travelling with his father and the Indians, the white men came upon them. According to Indian custom, when a party is surprised, the women and children immediately fly in different directions, to hide in the bushes and long grass, till the war-men return to them after the fight or alarm is over. Poor little Nikkanochee, in trying to cross a rivulet, fell back again into it, Besides this misfortune, 9* 102 ACCOUNT OF HIS FLIGHT. he met with others, so that h'e could not keep up with the party. He still kept on, for he saw an old coffee pot placed on a log; and Indians, in their flight, drop or place things in their track, as well as break off twigs from the bushes, that others of their tribe may know how to follow them. Nikkanochee came to a settlement of whites, but he struck out of the road to avoid it. He afterwards entered a peach orchard, belonging to a deserted house, and here he satisfied his hunger. It was then getting dark, but the soldiers saw him, and set off after him at full gallop. In vain he hid himself in the grass, and lay as still as a partridge, for they discovered him and took him away. Austin. I wonder that Econchatti-mico, his father, or the brave Oceola, his uncle, did not rescue him. Hunter It is thought that they did return upon the back trail, for Newnansville was shortly after surrounded by In dians with Oceola at their head ; but just then a reinforcement of soldiers arrived, and the Indians were obliged to retire. Had not the soldiers come up just in time, the whole garrison might have fallen by the rifles and scalping knives of enraged Semmoles. Nikkanochee passed a year with the family of Colonel Warren, and was beloved by them all. There was, no doubt, much sympathy felt for him, as the Nephew of a well-known warrior, and the son of the king of a warlike people. Nikkanochee was after wards taken under the protection of a gentleman, who became much attached to him. He was educated with other children and taught to bend his knee in prayer, and to offer praise to the King of kings and Lord of lords. Thus in the providence of God, was Nikkanochee brought from being a heathen to be a worshipper of the true God and Jesus Christ. Brian. How much longer did he remain in America ? Hunter. A very few years, during which he became ex pert in climbing, swimming, loading the rifle, arid using the spear. He was bold enough to attack the racoon and otter, and was not afraid even of the alligator ; few of his years N1KKANOCHEE. 103 were more hardy, or could bear an equal degree of fatigue His kind protector, who adopted him as his own child, brought him over to England in the year 1840, since which time he has written an interesting history of his young charge In the first page is an animated figure of Nikkan- ochee, dressed up as a Seminole warrior, with his cap, feathers, shield, bow, arrows, quiver, pendent ornaments, and mocassins. You cannot look at it, without feeling an interest in the welfare of the young Seminole. But I have given you a long account. May Nikkanochee grow up to know Him whom to know is life eternal, and become as celebrated for virtue and piety as his ancestors and relations were fo> valour and war. RESTING-PLACE FOR THE DEAD. CHAPTER VIII. The religion of the Red Indians Medicine, or Mystery Rain making Marriage Flattening the heads of children Cradles Practice of shaving the head Exposure of the aged The Leaping Rock Catching white fish Fasts, feasts, and sacrifices Runners Indian squaws, with their customary employments Pipe smoking Dog feast A common life scene among the Indians Smoking a shield Pipes Pipe of peace Indian burial Resting-place for the dead. PON the next visit of the three brothers to the hunter, he pointed out to them the great influence that religion had on the character of a people and a country. A false re ligion brought with it a train of un numbered evils ; while a knowledge of the true God, and a living faith in the Saviour who died for sinners, continually promoted among mankind princi ples of justice and kindness, and communicated to their hearts the blessings of peace and joy. " True it is," said he, " that among professedly Christian people there is much 104 RELIGION OF THE RED INDIANS. 105 of evil ; much of envy, hatred, malice, and uncharitable- ness ; of injustice, covetousness, and cruelty : but this pro ceeds not from Christianity, but from the fallen state of human nature, which nothing but the grace of God can renew, and from the great number of those who profess to be Christians, while they are uninfluenced by the gospel of the Redeemer. Christianity will neither allow us to dishonour God by bowing down to idols, nor to injure man by injustice and oppression. The Red Indians of North America are not found bowing down to numberless idols, as the inhabitants of many countries are : they worship what they call < the Great Spirit,' with a deep reverence, humbling themselves before him, and undergoing self-imposed torments, to gain his good will, which the generality of Christians, in the manifestation of their faith, would find it hard to endure. They believe also in an Evil Spirit, as well as in a future state; and that they shall be happy or unhappy, just as they have done good or evil, according to their estimate of those qualities ; but this belief is mixed up with mysteries and superstitions without number. I speak of Red Indians in the forest and the prairie, who know nothing of God's word, and who have never heard the voice of a missionary." Austin. You told us what the Sioux, the Riccarees, the Tuskaroras, and the Mandans called the Great Spirit. Please to tell us again. Hunter. The Mandans call him Mah-ho-peneta ; the Riccarees, Ka-ke-iva-rooh-teh ; the Sioux, Wo-kon-she-cha ; and the Tuskaroras, Ye-wun-ni-yoh. The different tribes believe, that if they are expert in the chase, bold in battle, and slay many of their enemies, they shall live forever, after death, in beautiful hunting grounds, enjoying the pleasures of the chase continually. You know that we, as Christians, are enjoined to forgive our enemies ; but untutored Indians delight in revenge : they love to boast, and to shed blood ; but we are taught, by God's holy word, to be humble and merciful. There is one thing that mingles much with the 106 THE MEDICINE BAG. Indian character ; and that is, medicine, or mystery I must try if I can make you understand it. Austin. Yes ; I should like to know all about that very well. Hunter. Go where you may, among the Ojibbe ways and Assinneboins of the north, the Choctaws and the Seminoles of the south, or the Crows, the Blackfeet, and the Shiennes of the west, every Indian has his me'dicine or mystery bag, which he regards with reverence, and will not part with for any price. He looks upon it as a kind of charm, or guar dian spirit, that is to keep him from evil. He takes it with him to battle, and when he dies it is his companion. Austin. But what is it ? Is there any thing in the bag ? What is it that makes medicine ? Hunter. Every thing that is mysterious or wonderful to an Indian, he regards as medicine. I do not mean such medicine as you get from a doctor ; but he regards it as something awful, and connected with spirits. This is a strong superstition, which has laid hold of the red man throughout the whole of North America. Brian. But is there any thing in the medicine bag ? Hunter. The medicine bag is usually the skin of some animal, such as the beaver, otter, polecat, and weazel ; or of some bird, as the eagle, the magpie, and hawk ; or of some reptile, as the snake and the toad. This skin is stuffed with any thing the owner chooses to put into it, such as dry grass, or leaves ; and it is carefully sewn up into some curi ous form, arid ornamented in a curious manner. Some medicine bags are very large, and form a conspicuous part of an Indian's appendages ; while others are very small, and altogether hidden. Basil. Why, it is very foolish for the red men to carry such things about with them. Hunter. It certainly is so ; but their fathers and their tribes have done so for many generations, and it would be a disgrace to them, in the <r own estimation, if they neglected to do the same. A young Indian, before he has his medi- MEDICINE MAN. 107 . 4 cine bag ) goes, perhaps, alone on the prairie, or wanders in the forest, or beside some solitary lake. Day after day, and night after night, he fasts, and calls on the Great Spirit to help him to medicine. When he sleeps, the first animal, or bird, or reptile that he dreams of, is his medicine. If it be a weazel, he catches a weazel, and it becomes his medicine forever. If it be a toad or snake, he kills whichever it may be ; and if it be a bird, he shoots it, and stuffs its skin. Austin. This is one of the most wonderful things you have told us yet. Hunter. What is called a medicine man, or a mystery man, is one who ranks high in his tribe for some supposed knowledge : he can either make buffaloes come, or cure dis eases, or bring rain, or do some other wonderful things, or persuade his tribe that he can do them. Indeed, among^ Red Indians, hardly any thing is done without the medicine man. A chief in full dress, would as soon think of making his appearance without his head as without his medicine bag. There is a saying among the Indians, that " a man lying down, is medicine to the grizzly bear;" meaning, that in such a position, a bear will not hurt him. Basil. Is it true ? Will not the grizzly bear hurt a man when he is lying down ? 9 Hunter. So many people say; but I should be very sorry to trust the grizzly bear. I am afraid that he would be paying his respects to me in a very rough way. Austin. What was it that you said about the medicine man bringing rain ? Hunter. Some of the mystery men are famous for bring ing rain in a dry season. Austin. But they cannot really bring rain. Hunter. The matter is managed in this way. When once they undertake to bring rain, they keep up their super stitious ceremonies, day after day, till the rain comes. Oftentimes it is very long before they succeed. It was in a time of great drought, that I once arrived at the Mandan village on the Upper Missouri. At the different Indian vil 108 MEDICINE MAN. lages, peas and beans, wild rice, corn, melons, squashes, pumpkins, peaches, and strawberries were often found in abundance ; but, on this occasion, the Mandans had a very poor prospect of gathering any thing that required rain to bring it to perfection. The young and the old were crying out that they should have no green corn. Austin. Why did they not tell the medicine men to make the rain come ? Hunter. They did so : but it was not quite convenient to the medicine men ; for they saw clearly enough that there was not the slightest appearance of rain. After putting it off, day after day, the sky grew a little cloudy to the west, when the medicine men assembled together in great haste to make it rain. Brian. Ay ! they were very, very cunning. Hunter. No sooner was it known that the medicine men were met together in the mystery lodge, than the vil lage was all in commotion. They wanted rain, and they were very sure that their medicine men could bring it when they pleased. The tops of the wigwams were soon crowded. In the mystery lodge a fire was kindled, round which sat the rain makers, burning sweet-smelling herbs, ^smoking the medicine pipe, and calling on the Great Spirit to open the door of the skies, and to let out the rain. Basil. That is the way they make it rain, is it ? Hunter. At last, one of the rain makers came out of the mystery lodge, and stood on the top of it with a spear in his hand, which he brandished about in a commanding and threatening manner, lifting it up as though he were about to hurl it up at the heavens. He talked aloud of the power of his medicine, holding up his medicine bag in one hand, and his spear in the other ; but it was of no use, neither his medicine nor his spear could make it rain ; and, at the set ting of the sun, he came down from his elevated position in disgrace. Austin. Poor fellow ! He had had enough of rain mak ing for one day. THE RAIN MAKER. 109 Hunter. For several days the same ceremony was carried on, until a rain maker, with a head-dress of the skins of birds, ascended the top of the mystery lodge, with a bow in his hand, and a quiver at his back. He made a long speech, which had in it much about thunder and*lightning, and black clouds, and drenching rain ; for the sky was growing dark, and it required no great knowledge of the weather to foretell rain. He shot arrows to the sun-rise and thesun-down pointsof the heavens, and others to the north and the south, in honour of the Great Spirit who could send the rain from all parts of the skies. A fifth arrow he retained, until it was almost certain that rain was at hand. Then, sending up the shaft from his bow, with all his might, to make a hole, as he said, in the dark cloud over his head, he cried aloud for the waters to pour down at his bidding, and to drench him to the skin. He was brandishing his bow in one hand, and his medicine in the other, when the rain came down in a torrent. The whole village was clamorous with applause, he was regarded as a great mystery man, whose medicine was very powerful, and he rose to great distinc tion among his tribe. You see, then, the power of a mys tery man in bringing rain. Does it not astonish you ? Jlustin. No, not a bit. I see that it was all a cheat. Brian. I could make it rain myself as well as he did, for he never shot his arrow to pierce the cloud till it was over his head. Hunter. To be a mystery man is regarded as a great honour; and some Indians are said to have suspended them selves from a pole, with splints through their flesh, and their medicine bags in their hands, looking towards the sun, for a whole day, to obtain it. I have here a copy of one of Mr. Catlin's portraits, the " looks and very resemblance" of an aged chief, who combines with his high office, the envied title of mystery or medicine man, i. e. doctor magi cian prophet soothsayer jongleur and high priest, all combined in one person, who necessarily is looked upon as "Sir Oracle" of the nation. The name of this distinguished 10 110 A STRANGE CUSTOM. functionary is Wun-nes-ton, the white buffalo ; and on his left arm he presents his mystery-drum or tambour, in which are concealed the hidden and sacred mysteries of his healing art. He belongs to the Blackfoot tribe. AustirP. When I go among the Red Indians, I will not be a mystery man. Hunter. There is very little ceremony in an Indian mar riage. The father may be seen sitting among his friends, when the young Indian comes in '.vith presents, to induce him to give him his daughter for a wife. If the presents are not liked, they are not accepted ; if they are approved, the father takes the hand of his daughter, and the hand of the young Indian, and slaps them together ; after which a little feasting takes place. Austin. Why, that is like buying a wife. Hunter. It is ; but the young Indian has already gained the good will of his intended wife : not by his fine clothes and his wealth, for he has neither the one nor the other, but by showing her the skins of the bears he has killed, and the scalps and scalp-locks of the foes he has slaughtered ; and by telling her that he will hunt for her, that she may be kept from want, and fight for her, that she may be pro tected from the enemies of her tribe. Indians have strange customs: the Chinock Indians flatten the heads of their young children, by laying them in a cradle, with a pillow for the back of the head, and then pressing the forehead, day after day, with a board, that lets down upon it, till the, nose and forehead form a straight line. Brian. I should not like my head to be flattened in that manner. Hunter. Children are carried about in these cradles on the backs of their mothers, wherever they go ; and when children die, they are often left, in their cradles, floating on the water of a brook or pool, which their superstition teaches them to regard as sacred. A cluster of these little arks or cradles, or coffins as they may be called, of different forms, in a lone pool, is a very picturesque and affecting sight. WUN-NES-TON BLACKFOOT CHIEF AND CONJURER. Ill EXPOSURE OF THE AGED. 113 Basil. I shall often think of the pool, and the little cra dles swimming on it. Why, it is just like the picture of Moses in the bulrushes. Hunter. The Kowyas, the Pawnees, the Sacs ana Foxes, the Osages, and the loways, all shave their heads, leaving a tuft on the crown two or three inches in length, and a small lock in the middle of it, as long as they can get it to grow. By means of this small lock of hair braided, they ornament the tuft with a crest of the deer's tail dyed scarlet, and sometimes add to it a war-eagle's feather. flustin. How different to the Crow Indians ! They do not shave off their hair ; but let it grow till it hangs down to the very ground. Hunter. You have not forgotten that, I see. There is a cruel custom among the Red Indians, of exposing their aged people, that is, leaving them alone to die. If a party are obliged to remove from one place to another in search of food, and there is among them an aged man, who can no longer fight, nor hunt, nor fish, nor do any thing to support himself, he is liable, although in his time he may have been a war chief, to be left alone to die. I have seen such a one sitting by a little fire left him by his tribe, with perhaps a buffalo skin stretched on poles over his head, and a little water and a few bones within his reach. I have put my pipe to his mouth, given him a pemican, and gathered sticks, that he might be able to recruit his fire ; and when, months after, I have returned to the spot, there has been nothing left of him but his skeleton, picked clean by the wolves, bleaching in the winds that blew around. Austin. This is one of the worst things we have heard of the Red Indians. Basil. Oh, it is very sad inceed ! Hunter. You would not forsake your father, in old age, in that manner, would you ? Austin. No ! As long as we could get a bit or a drop he should have part of it, and we would die with him rather than desert him. P 10* 114 SACRIFICES. Brian and Basil. Yes ; that we would ! Hunter. I hope so. This is, I say, a cruel custom ; but it forms a part of Indian manners, so that the old men expect it, and, indeed, would not alter it. Indians have not been taught, as we have, to honour their parents, at least not in the same way ; but I can say nothing in favour of so cruel and unnatural a custom. Among the Sioux oi the Mississippi, it is considered great medicine to jump on the Leaping Rock, and back again. This rock is a huge column or block, between thirty and forty feet high, divided from the side of the Red Pipe-stone Quarry. It is about seven feet broad, and at a distance from the main rock of about six or eight feet. Many are bold enough to take the leap, and to leave their arrows sticking in one of its crevices ; while others, equally courageous, have fallen from the top in making the attempt, and been dashed to pieces at its base. Brian. When you go to Pipe-stone Quarry, Austin, have nothing to do with the Leaping Rock. You must get your medicine in some other way. Austin. I shall leave the Leaping Rock to the leaping Indians, for it will never suit me. Hunter. There is a very small fish caught in the river Thames, called white bait, which is considered a very great luxury ; but, to my taste, the white fish of which the Chip- peways take great abundance in the rapids near the Sault de St. Mary's, are preferable. The Chippeways catch them in the rapids with scoop-nets, in the use of which they are very expert. The white fish resemble silmon, but are much less in size. Austin. The white fish of the Chippeways will suit me better than the Leaping Rock of the Sioux. Hunter. Among the Red Indians, feasting, fasting, and sacrifices of a peculiar kind, form a part of their religious or superstitious observances. Some of the Pawnees, in former times, offered human sacrifices; but this cruel custom is now no more. The Mandans frequently oifered a finger to SMOKING THE PIPE. 115 the God, or Evil Spirit : and most of the trioes offer a norse, a dog, a spear, or an arrow, as the case may be. Over the Mandan mystery lodge used to hang the skin of a white buffalo, with blue and black cloth of great value. These were intended as a sacrifice or an offering to the Good and Evil Spirits, to avert their anger and to gain their favour. Brian. How many things you do remember ! Hunter. All the chiefs of the tribes keep runners : men swift of foot, who carry messages and commands, and spread among the people news necessary to be communi cated. These runners sometimes go great distances in a very short space of time. Brian. You must have your runners, Austin. Austin. Oh, yes, I will have my runners : for I shall want pipe-stone from Red Pipe-stone Quarry, and -white fish from the Chippeways ; and then I shall send messages to the Cherokees and Choctaws, the Camachees, the Black- feet, and the Crows. Hunter. The squaws, or wives of the Indians, labour very contentedly, seeming to look on servitude as their proper calling. They get in wood and water; theyvprepare the ground for grain, cook victuals, make the dresses of their husbands, manufacture pottery, dress skins, attend to the children, and malce themselves useful in a hundred other ways. Brian. I think the squaws behave themselves very well. Hunter. The smoking of the pipe takes place on all great occasions, just as though the Indians thought it was particularly grateful to Good and Evil Spirits. In going to war, or in celebrating peace, as well as on all solemn occa sions, the pipe is smoked. Oftentimes, before it is passed round, the stem is pointed upwards, and then offered to the four points east, west, north, and south. In the hands of a mystery man, it is great and powerful medicine. If ever you go among the red men, you must learn to smoke ; for to refuse to draw a whiff through the friendly pipe offered to you, would be regarded as a sad affront. 116 A DOG FEAST. Basil. What will you do now, Austin ? You never smoked a pipe in your life. Austin. Oh, I should soon learn; beside, I need only take a very little whiff. Hunter. You must learn to eat dog's flesh, too ; for when the Indians mean to confer a great honour on a chief or a stranger, they give him a dog feast, in which they set before him their most favourite dogs, killed and cooked. The more useful the dogs were, and the more highly valued, the greater is the compliment to him in whose honour the feast is given ; and if he were to refuse to eat of the dog's flesh, thus prepared out of particular respect to him, no greater offence could be offered to his hospitable entertainers. Brian. You have something to do now, however, Austin, to learn to eat dog's flesh. Austin. You may depend upon it, that I shall keep out of the way of a dog feast. I might take a little whiff at their big pipe ; but I could not touch their dainty dogs. Hunter. In some of the large lodges, I have seen very impressive common life scenes. Fancy to yourselves a large round lodge, holding ten or a dozen beds of buffalo skins, with a high post between every bed. On these posts hang the shields, the war clubs, the spears, the bows and quivers, the eagle-plumed head dresses, "and the medicine bags, of the different Indians who sleep there ; and on the top of each post the buffalo mask, with its horns and tail, used in the buffalo dance. Fancy to yourselves a group of Indians in the middle of the lodge, with their wives and their little ones around them, smoking their pipes, and relat ing their adventures, as happy as ease and the supply of all their wants can make them. While you gaze on the scene, so strange, so wild, so picturesque, and so happy, a rush of friendly feeling for the red man thrills through your bosom, a tear of pleasure starts into your eye ; and, before you are aware, an ejaculation of thankfulness has escaped your lips, to the Father of mercies, that, in his goodness MODES OF BURIAL. 117 and bounty to mankind, he has not forgotten the inhabitants of the forest and the prairie. Austin. It is worth going to North America to see such a scene ! Hunter. The Indians have a method of hardening their shields, by smoking them over a fire, in a hole in the ground ; and, usually, when a warrior thus smokes his shield, he gives a feast to his friends. Some of the pipes of the Red Indians are beautiful. The bowls are all of the red stone, from Pipe-stone Quarry, cut into all manner of fantastic forms ; while the stems, three or four feet long, are orna mented with braids of porcupine's quills, beaks of birds, feathers, and red hair. The calumet, or, as it is called, " the peace pipe," is indeed, as I have before said, great medicine. It is highly adorned with quills of the war-eagle, and never used on any other occasion than that of making and solemnizing peace, when it is passed round to the chiefs. It is regarded as altogether a sacred utensil. An Indian's pipe is his friend through the pains and pleasures of life ; and when his tomahawk and his medicine bag are placed beside his poor, pallid remains, his pipe is not for gotten. Austin. When a Red Indian dies, how do they bury him : Hunter. According to the custom of his tribe. Some Indians are buried under the sod ; some are left in cots, or cradles, on the water ; and others are placed on frames raised to support them. You remember that I told you of Blackbird's grave. Austin. Ay ! he was buried on horseback, on the top of a high bluff, sitting on his horse. He was covered all over with sods. Hunter. And I told you of the Chinock children floating on the solitary pool. Basil. Yes, I remember them very well. Hunter. Grown, up Chinocks are left floating in cradles, just in the same manner ; though oftener they are tied up in skins, and laid in canoes, with paddles, pipes, and pro- 118 INDIAN BURYING-PLACE. visions, and then hoisted up into a tree, and left there to decay. In the Mandan burial place, the dead were ranged in rows, on high slender frames, out of the way of the wolf, dressed in their best robes, and wrapped in a fresh buffalo skin, with all their arms, pipes, and every necessary provision and comfort to supply their wants in their journey to the hunting grounds of their fathers. In English burial grounds, there are always some monuments grander than the rest, to set forth the wealth, the station, or the talents of those who slumber below ; and, as human nature is the same every where, so in the resting place of the Red In dians, here and there are spread out a few yards of red or blue cloth, to signify that beneath it a chief, or u superior brave, is sleeping. The Mandan dead occupied a spot on the prairie. Here they mouldered, warrior lying by the side of warrior, till they fell to the ground from their frames, when the bones were buried, and the skulls ranged with great care, in round rings, on the prairie, with two buffalo skulls and a medicine pole in the centre. Austin. Ay ! it would be of no use for the wolf to come then, for there would be nothing for him. I should very much like to see an Indian burying place: Hunter Were you to visit one, you would see that heart and affections are at work under a red skin, as well as under a white one ; for parents and children, husbands and wives, go there to lament for those who are dear to them, and to humble themselves before the Great Spirit, under whose care they believe their departed relatives to be. The skulls, too, are visited, and every one is placed carefully, from time to time, on a tuft of sweet-smelling nerb or plant. Life is but a short season with both the white and the red man, and ought to be well spent. It is as a flower that flourishes : " For the wind passeth over it, and it is gone ; and the place thereof shall know it no more/' Psa. ciii. 16. But I have now told you enough for the present. Come again, as soon as you will ; I shall have some anecdotes of Red Indians ready for you. INDIAN WARRIOR. CHAPTER IX. Anecdotes of the Red Indians Indian observance and sagacity J/t- dian conscientiousness Indian honesty Indian ignorance Indian shrewdness Indian cunning and deceit Indian heroism Adven ture of an American trapper. OUNG Austin and his two brothers with willing feet, sparkling eyes, and beating hearts, again set off for the cottage near the wood On an ordinary occasion, they might have found time for a little pleasant loiter ing but the Indian anecdotes they expected to hear, excited their curiosity too much to allow a single minute to be lost. A pin might have been heard falling on the ground, when, seated in the cottage, they listened to the following anecdotes of the hunter. Hunter. It has pleased God to endue Indians with quick perceptions. They are amazingly quick in tracing an enemy, both in the woods and the prairie a broken twig or 119 1^0 OBSERVATION AND SAGACITY. leaf, or the faintest impression on the grass, is sufficient to attract their attention. The anecdotes I am about to relate are believed to be true, but I cannot myself vouch for their correctness, having only read them, or heard them related by others. An Indian, upon his return home to his hut, one day, dis covered that his venison, which had been hung up to dry, had been stolen. After going some distance, he met some persons, of whom he inquired if they had seen a little, old, white man, with a short gun, and accompanied by a small dog with a bob tail. They replied in the affirmative ; and, upon the Indian's assuring them that the man thus described had stolen his venison, they desired to be informed how he was able to give such a minute description of a person whom he had not seen. The Indian answered thus : " The thief I know is a little man, by his having made a pile of stones in order to reach the venison, from the height I hung it standing on the ground ; that he is an old man, I know by his short steps, which I have traced over the dead leaves in the woods ; that he is a white man, I know by his turning out his toes when he walks, which an Indian never does ; his gun I know to be stibrt, by the mark which the muzzle made by rubbing the bark of the tree on which it leaned; that the dog is small, I know by his tracks; and that he has a bob tail, I discovered by the mark of it in the dust where he was sitting at the time his master was taking down the meat." Brian. Well done, Indian ! Why, nothing could escape a man like that. Austin. A European would never have been able to describe the thief without seeing him. Hunter. You shall have another instance of the quick perceptions of the red men. A most atrocious and shock ing murder was once committed, by a party of Indians, on fourteen white settlers, within five miles of Shamokin. The surviving whites, in their rage, determined to take their re venge by murdering a Delaware Indian, who happened to OBSERVATION AND SAGACITY. 121 be in those parts, and who was far from thinking himself in any danger. He was a great friend to the whites, was loved and esteemed by them, and, in testimony of their regard, had received from them the name of Duke Holland, by which he was generally known. This Indian, satisfied that his nation were incapable of committing such a foul murder in a time of profound peace, told the enraged settlers that he was sure the Delawares were not in any manner concerned in it, and that it was the act of some wicked Mingoes or Iroquois, whose custom it was to involve other nations in wars with each other, by secretly committing murders, so that they might appear to be the work of others. But all his representations were vain ; he could not convince exasperated men, whose minds were fully bent on revenge. At last, he offered that, if they would give him a party to accompany him, he would go with them in quest of the murderers, and was sure that he could discover them by the prints of their feet, and other marks well known to him, by which he would convince them that the real perpetrators of the crime belonged to the Six Nations. His proposal was accepted. He marched at the head of a party of whites, and led them into the tracks. They soon found themselves in the most rocky part of a mountain, where not one of those who accompanied him could dis cover a single track, nor would they believe that men had ever trodden on this ground, as they had to jump from rock to rock, or to crawl over them. They began to believe that the Indian had led them across these rugged mountains in order to give the enemy time to escape. They threatened him with instant death the moment they should be con vinced of the fraud. The Indian, true to his promise, took pains to make them perceive that an enemy had passed along the places through which he was leading them. Here, he showed them that the moss on the road had been trodden down by the weight of a human foot ; there, that it had been torn and dragged Q 11 122 CONSCIENTIOUSNESS. forward from its place. Again, he would point out to them, that pebbles, or small stones on the rocks, had been removed from their beds by the foot hitting against them ; that dry sticks, by being trodden upon, were broken ; and, in one particular place, that an Indian's blanket had been dragged ever the rocks, and had removed or loosened the leaves lying there, so that they did not lie flat, as in other places. All these marks the Indian could perceive as he walked along, without even stopping. At last, arriving at the foot of the mountain, on soft ground, where the tracks were deep, he found that the enemy were eight in number ; and, from the freshness of the foot prints, he concluded that they must be encamped at no great distance. This proved to be the exact truth ; for, after gaining the eminence on the other side of the valley, the Indians were seen encamped : some having already lain down to sleep, while others were drawing off their leggings, or Indian stockings, for the same purpose, and the scalps they had taken were hanging up to dry. " See," said Duke Holland to his astonished companions, " there is the enemy ; not of my nation, but Mingoes, as I truly told you. They are in our power. In less than half an hour they will be all fast asleep. We need not fire a gun, but go up and tomahawk them. We are nearly two to one, and need apprehend no danger. Come on, and you will now have your full revenge." But the whites, overcome with fear, did not choose to follow the Indian's advice, but desired him to take them back by the nearest and best way. This he did ; and when they arrived at home, they reported the enemy to have been so great that they 'durst not venture to attack them. ftustin. This instance is quite as wonderful as the other. Brian. I would not have an Indian after me for the world ; he would be sure to find me out. Hunter. Red men often act very conscientiously. One HONESTY. 123 day, an Indian solicited a little tobacco of a white man, to fill his pipe. Having some loose in his pocket, the white man gave him a handful. The next day, the Indian returned in search of the man who had given him the $obacco. " Me wish to see him," said the Indian. "Why so?" inquired some one. " Why, me find money with the tobacco." " Well ! what of that ? Keep it ; it was given to you." "Ah !" said the Indian, shaking his head, "me got good man and bad man here," pointing to his breast. " Good man say, < Money not yours ; you must return it :' bad man say, (J Tis yours; it was given to you/ Good man say, ' That not right ; tobacco yours, money not yours.' Bad man say, * Never mind, nobody know it; go buy rum.' Good man say, < Oh no ; no such thing.' So poor Indian know not what to do. Me lie down to sleep, but no sleep ; good man and bad man talk all night, and trouble me. So now, me bring money back : now, me feel good." Basil. I like that Indian very much. Brian. No one could have acted more honestly. Hunter. Whatever the Red Indians may be, when oppressed, wronged, and deceived by the whites ; and however they may act towards their enemies ;.,they are usually honest towards their own tribe. While I was resi ding on the Big Beaver, says one who lived much among them, I passed by the door of an Indian, who was a trader, and had, consequently, a quantity of goods in his house. He was going with his wife to Pittsburg, and they were shutting up the house ; as no person remained in it during their absence. This shutting up was nothing else than putting a large hominy pounding-block, with a few sticks of wood, outside against the door, so as to keep it closed. As I was looking at this man with attention, while he was so employed, he addressed me in these words : "See, my friend, this is an Indian lock that I am putting to my door." .124 IGNORANCE AND SUPERSTITION. I answered, " Well enough ; but I see you leave much property in the house : are you not afraid that those articles will be stolen while you are gone ?" "Stolen! by whom?" v " Why, by Indians, to be sure." " No, no," replied he, " no Indian would do such a thing. Unless a white man, or .white people, should happen to come this way, I shall find all safe on my return." Basil. If we were to leave our doors in that way, our houses would be sure to be robbed. * Hunter. No doubt they would ; but Indians have good and bad qualities. The Holy Scriptures say, that " the heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked," Jer. xvii. 9 ; and, therefore, we must not expect too much from the poor red men, especially as they have been brought up in ignor'ance of Gogi's word and will : but such instances as those I have related are by no means uncommon. The notion entertained by the Iroquois Indians, respecting the creation of mankind, will show how ignorant they are with respect to the Creator of all things; but, indeed, if the blessed book of truth were not in our hands, we should be equally ignorant ourselves. Before man existed, say they, there were three great and good spirits ; of whom one was superior jjo the other two, and is emphatically called the Great Spirit, and the Good Spirit. At a certain time, this exalted being said to one of the others, " Make a man." He obeyed ; and, taking chalk, formed a paste of it, and moulding it into the human form, infused into it the animat ing principle, and brought it to the Great Spirit. He, after surveying it, said, " This is too white." He then directed the other to make a trial of his skill. Accordingly, taking charcoal, he pursued the same process, and brought the result to the Great Spirit ; who, after sur veying it, said, " It is too black." Then said the Great Spirit, " I will now try myself;" and taking red earth, he formed an Indian. On surveying tt, he said, "This is a proper, or perfect man." SHREWDNESS. 125 After relating the strange opinion of the Iroquois Indians, the hunter advised the young people, on their return home, to look over the account of the creation of the world and mankind, in the first chapter of Genesis; telling them that they could not be too thankful for the opportunity of read ing God's word, which was not only sufficient to keep them from error in such things, but was able also to make them " wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus," 2 Tim. iii. 15. He told them, that though the Red Indians were ignorant in holy things, they did not want shrewdness and sagacity. " When General Lincoln/' said he, " went to make peace with the Creek Indians, one of the chiefs asked him to sit down on a log ; he was then desired to move, and, in a few minutes, to move still farther. The request was repeated, until the general got to the end of the log. The Indian still said, < Move ^ farther ;' to which the general replied, k ' I can move no farther/ ' Just so it is with us,' said the chief. * You have moved us back to the water, and then ask us to move farther.' ' Austin and his brothers were so pleased with the Indian's shrewdness, that the hunter went on thus : Hunter. " Why do you not go to work, and get some thing to purchase some clothes with ?" said Colonel Dudley, one day, to an idle, ragged Indian, who, like himself, was standing observing some men employed upon a house which he was erecting. " And why you do no work, if you please, Mr. Gover nor ?" asked the Indian, by way of reply. " I no work ! I do work," answered the governor. " I'm sure you no work," said the Indian. " You see others work." " But I work with my head," said the governor ; at the same time laying his finger upon his forehead. " Well," said the Indian, " me work too, if any one em ploy me." " Go, then," said the governor, " and kill me a calf, and you shall have a shilling." 11* 126 CUNNING AND DECEIT. The Indian seemed well pleased, and having killed the animal, came and wanted his pay. "But you have not skinned and dressed it." " Calf killed, governor," said the Indian. " Me kill calf for a shilling ; give another shilling, and me skin and dress it." The governor did so ; and after skinning and dressing the animal, the Indian repaired to a neighbouring tavern, and laid out a part of his money in rum. He then came back, and told the governor that one of the shillings which he had given him was bad, and the man no take it. The governor, though satisfied of the cheat, gave the Indian another shilling, and he departed. In a few days, the Indian came again to see the workmen. The governor, in the mean time, had written a letter to the keeper of the Bridewell in Boston, requesting him to give the bearer of it a sound whipping. While the Indian was idly looking at the workmen, as in the former instance, the governor drew the letter from his pocket, and offered the Indian half a crown to carry and deliver it. " Will you carry it?" inquired the governor. " Me will/' said the Indian, quite pleased ; and, at the same time, holding out his hand for the letter and the money. Pretty soon after starting, he met another Indian, who lived with the governor as a servant. " Here," said he to the servant, " here a letter." " Well, what of that ?" asked the servant. " Why," said the Indian, " governor say me meet you give you the letter you carry it to Boston." Taking the letter as directed, the servant turned back, and, on delivering it, took the flogging himself, much to his surprise and indignation. On his return, he complained most bitterly. The gover nor bit his lips, told him how the matter was, and deter mined some day to have the lazy fellow punished. A PAWNEE WARRIOR. 127 But the Indian took good care to keep out of the way. At length, however, happening to see him, the governor inquired why he served him such a trick. "Oh!" said the Indian, looking him full in the face, " governor say me no work, but he work he work with the head ; me think me work with the head too." " Famous ! famous !" cried out Austin. . <* Famous ! famous !" echoed Brian and Basil. But the hunter told them that the conduct of the Indian did not ap pear to him at all commendable. " We should always dis tinguish," said he, " between the sagacity of an upright in tention, and the low cunning of deceit and dishonesty. < Bread of deceit is sweet to a man ; but afterwards his mouth shall be filled with gravel.' " Prov. xx. 17. The following instance of heroism in a Pawnee brave, related by the hunter, highly delighted Austin. Hunter. In the account of his expedition to the foot of the Rocky Mountains, in 1821, Major Long relates the fol lowing anecdote of a Pawnee brave, son of Red Knife, who, the succeeding winter, visited the city of Washington, during the session of Congress. This brave, of fine size, figure, and countenance, is now about twenty-five years old. At the age of twenty-one, his heroic deeds had acquired for him in his nation the rank of the bravest of the braves. The savage practice of tor turing and burning to death their prisoners, existed in this nation. An unfortunate female, of the Paduca nation, taken in war, was destined to this horrid death. The fatal hour had arrived. The trembling victim, far from her home and her friends, was fastened to the stake. The whole tribe was assembled on the surrounding plains to witness the awful scene. Just when the funeral pile was to be kindled, and the whole multitude of spectators were on the tiptoe of expec tation, this young warrior, having, unnoticed, prepared two fleet horses, with the necessary provisions, sprang from his seat, rushed through the crowd, liberated the victim, seized 128 HEROIC CONDUCT. her in his arms, placed her on one of the horses, mounted the other himself, and made the utmost speed towards the nation and friends of the captive. The multitude, dumb and nerveless with amazement at the daring deed, made no effort to rescue their victim from her deliverer. They viewed it as the immediate act of the Great Spirit, submitted to it without a, murmur, and quietly retired to their village. The released captive was accompanied three days through the wilderness, towards her home. Her deliverer then gave her the horse on which she rode, and the necessary provi sions for the remainder of the journey, and they parted. On his return to the village, such was his popularity, that no inquiry was made into his conduct, and no censure was passed upon it. Since this transaction, no human sacrifice has been offered in this or any other of the Pawnee tribes ; the practice is abandoned. How influential is one bold act in a good cause ! The publication of this anecdote at Washington, led some young ladies, in a manner highly creditable to their good sense and good feeling, to present this brave and humane Indian with a handsome silver medal, with appro priate inscriptions, as a token of their sincere commenda tion of the noble act of rescuing one of their sex, an inno cent victim, from a cruel death. Their address, delivered on this occasion, is sensible and appropriate, closing as follows: "Brother Accept this token of our esteem; always wear it for our sakes ; and when again you have the power to save a poor woman from death and torture, think of this, and of us, and fly to her relief and rescue." To this the Pawnee made the following reply : " Brothers and sisters This, the medal, will give me ease more than I ever had ; and I will listen more than I ever did to white men. " I am glad that my brothers and sisters have heard of the good deed that I have done. My brothers and r ADVENTURE OF TWO TRAPPERS. 129 think that I have done it in ignorance, but I know what I have done. " I did it in ignorance, and I did not know that I did good ; but by giving me this medal I know it." The cruelty of torturing and burning a captive, the great danger of the female Indian, and the noble daring of the Pawnee brave, formed the subject of conversation for some time among the young people ; and Austin was unbounded in his approbation of the Pawnee. Willingly would he have contributed towards another silver medal for him, and Brian and Basil would not have been backward in doing their part ; but the affair appeared hardly practicable, inas much as a reasonable doubt existed whether the Pawnee brave was still alive ; and, even if he were, there seemed to be no direct way of communicating with him. The hunter proposed to conclude his anecdotes for the present, by relating some adventures of an American trapper. This proposal being warmly seconded by the young people, the hunter thus proceeeded: Hunter. On the arrival of the exploring party of Lewis and Clarke at the head waters of the Missouri, one of their number, of the name of Colter, was desirous of joining a trapper, of the name of Potts, who was in that neighbour hood for the purpose of hunting beaver, an abundance of which were to be found in that part of the country. The offer was a very advantageous one; and, as Colter had always performed his duty, it was agreed that he might go. Accordingly, he was supplied with ammunition, and took leave of the party for the solitude of the woods. Aware of the hostility of the Blackfoot Indians, Colter and his companion set their traps at night, and took them up early in the morning, remaining concealed during the day. They were examining their traps early in the morn ing, in a creek about six miles from that branch of the Mis souri called Jefferson's Fork, and were ascending in a canoe, when they suddenly heard a great noise, resembling the trampling of animals; but they could not ascertain the fact, R 130 ADVENTURE OF TWO TRAPPERS. as the high perpendicular banks on each side of the river impeded their view. Colter immediately pronounced it to be occasioned by Indians, and advised an instant retreat, but was accused of cowardice by Potts, who insisted that the noise was occa sioned by buffaloes, and they proceeded on. In a few minutes afterwards their doubts were removed, by a party of Indians making their appearance on both sides of the creek, to the amount of five or six hundred, who beckoned them to come on shore. As retreat was now impossible, Colter turned the head of the canoe to the shore, and, at the moment of its touching an Indian seized the rifle belonging to Potts ; but Colter, who was a remarkably strong man, immediately retook it, and handed it to Potts, who remained in the canoe, and, on recovering it, pushed off into the river. He had scarcely quitted the shore, when an arrow was shot at him, and he cried out, " Colter, I am wounded." Colter remonstrated with him on the folly of attempting to escape, and urged him to come on shore. Instead of complying, he instantly levelled his rifle at an Indian, and shot him dead on the spot. This conduct, sit uated as he was, may appear to have been an act of mad ness ; but it was doubtless the effect of sudden but correct reasoning ; for, if taken alive, he must have expected to have been tortured to death, according to the Indian custom. They now seized Colter, stripped him entirely, and began to consult on the mariner in which he should be put to death. They were first inclined to set him up as a mark to shoot at; but the chief interfered, and, seizing him by the shoulder, asked him if he could run fast. Colter, who had been some time among the Kee Catsa, or Crow Indians, had, in a con siderable degree, acquired the Blackfoot language, and was also acquainted with Indian customs ; he knew that he had now to run for his life, with the dreadful odds of five or six hundred against him, and these armed Indians. He cun- A NARROW ESCAPE. 131 ningly replied, that he was a very bad runner, although he was considered by the hunters as remarkably swift. The chief now commanded the party to remain sta tionary, led Colter out on the prairie three or four hundred yards, and released him, bidding him save himself if he could. At that instant the war whoop sounded in the ears of poor Colter, who, urged with the hope of preserving life, ran with a speed at which he was himself surprised. He proceeded towards Jefferson's Fork, having to travel a plain six miles in breadth, abounding with the prickly pear, on which he was every instant treading with his naked feet. He ran nearly half way across the plain before he ventured to look over his shoulder, when he perceived that the Indians were very much scattered, and that he had gained ground to a considerable distance from the main body ; but one Indian, who carried a spear, was much before all the rest, and not more than a hundred yards from him. A faint gleam of hope now cheered the heart of Colter ; he derived confidence from the belief that escape was within the bounds of possibility ; but that confidence was nearly fatal to him, for he exerted himself to such a degree, that the blood gushed from his nostrils, and soon almost covered the fore part of his body. He had now arrived within a mile of the river, when he distinctly heard the appalling sound of footsteps behind him, and every instant expected to feel the spear of his pursuer. Again he turned his head, and saw the savage not twenty yards from him. Determined, if possible, to avoid the expected blow, he suddenly stopped, turned round, and spread out his arms. The Indian, surprised by the sudden ness of the action, and, perhaps, by the bloody appearance of Colter, also attempted to stop ; but, exhausted with run ning, he fell while endeavouring to throw his spear, which stuck in the ground, and broke in his hand. Colter instantly snatched up the pointed part, with which he pinned him to the earth, and then continued his flight. 132 A NARROW ESCAPE. The foremost of the Indians, on arriving at the place, stopped till others came up to join him, when they set up a hideous yell. Every moment of this time was improved by Colter, who, although fainting and exhausted, succeeded in gaining the skirting of the cotton-wood trees on the bor der of the Fork, to which he ran, and plunged into the river. Fortunately for him, a little below this place there was an island, against the upper part of which a raft of draft timber had lodged. He dived under the raft, and after several efforts got his head above water, amongst the trunks of trees, covered over with smaller wood to the depth of several feet. Scarcely had he secured himself, when the Indians arrived on the river, screeching andyellingin a most frightful manner. They were frequently on the raft during the day, and were seen through the chinks by Colter, who was congratulating himself on his escape, till the idea arose that they might set the raft on fire. In horrible suspense, he remained until night; when, hearing no more of the Indians, he dived from under the raft, and swam down the river to a consid erable distance, when he landed, and travelled all night. Although happy in having escaped from the Indians, hisr situation was still dreadful. He was completely naked, under a burning sun ; the soles of his feet were filled with the thorns of the prickly pear; he was hungry, and had no means of killing game, although he saw abundance around him ; and he was at a great distance from the nearest set tlement. Almost any man but an American hunter would have despaired under such circumstances. The fortitude of Colter, however, remained unshaken. After seven days' sore travel, during which he had nothing but roots for his sustenance, he at length arrived in safety at Lisa's Fort, on the Bigthorn branch of the Roche Jaime river. During the walk home of the young people, an animated discussion arose among them respecting the Indians. Brian and Basil urged many things against them, especially their A NARROW ESCAPE. 133 cruelty ; but Austin, who seemed to see every thing with an Indian eye, upheld them through thick and thin. They had, to be sure, he said, some bad qualities, which he doubted not might soon be corrected ; but as for honesty, quickness of perception, and bravery, he would match them against all the world. INDIAN CHIEF. 12 INDIAN HORSEMANSHIP. CHAPTER X. Buffaloes Bisons A grand surround of buffaloes A buffalo wal low Bears Adventure with a grizzly bear Anecdote of a com mon bearWild horses Catching horses with the laso Creasing horses Cougers Wolves White, black, and clouded, wolves- Deer Moose deer Elk Common deer The wapiti deer Black- tailed deer Cariboo Mountain sheep Prairie dogs Musk rats Taking musk rats Fearful adventure of the prairie onjire. EMEMBER, said Austin, as he urged his brothers to quicken their pace on their way to the cottage, " we have hardly heard any thing yet about buffaloes and grizzly bears, and other animals which are found in the woods and the prairie. Let us make haste, that we may hear all about them." Brian and Basil, being almost as anxious as their brother* to hear all about bears and buffaloes, quickened their pace as he desired them, so that no long period had passed, before the hunter, at the request of his youthful visitors, was engaged in giving them the desired account. " The different animals and birds," said he, " that inhabit 134 THE BUFFALO AND BISON. 135 different countries, for the most part roam backwards and forwards, according to the season. Creatures that love the cold move northerly in summer, and such as delight in a warmer clime, move southerly in winter. It is, however, principally to obtain food that they remove from one place to another. I must here explain to you, that though I have, in common with most others who talk of North America, spoken of buffaloes, the animal which abounds in the prairie is not the buffalo, but the bison. <ftustin. But if they are bisons, why are they called buffaloes ? Hunter. That is a question that I hardly know how to answer. From whatever cause it may have arisen, certain it is, that the name of buffalo has become common ; and, that being the case, it is used in conversation, and often^ times in books, as being more easily understood. Brian. What is the difference between a buffalo and a bison ? Hunter. A buffalo is an animal that abounds in Africa, resembling an ugly cow, with a body long, but rather low ; it has very long horns. There is also a European buffalo, or bison, here is a picture of one attacked by wolves. The bison stands very high in front, has a hump on the back part of the neck covered with long hair, short horns, and a profusion of long shaggy hair hanging from its head, neck, and fore legs. Austin. A bison must look much fiercer than a buffalo. Hunter. He does, and from the circumstance of his fore parts standing high, while he carries his head low, he al ways appears as if he were about to run at you. Bisons abound throughout the whole of North America, west of the Mississippi ; but the reckless way in which they are slaughtered, and the spread of civilization, are likely, in a few years, greatly to diminish their numbers. Indians suffer much from hunger, but they are very reckless when buffaloes are plentiful. On one occasion, when among the Minatarees, I witnessed a grand surround of buffaloes. 136 BUFFALO HUNT. EUROPEAN BUFFALO ATTACKED BY WOLVES. This was effected by different parties taking different di rections, and then gradually approaching each other ; the buffalo herd was thus hemmed in on all sides, and the slaughter was terrible. The unerring rifle, the sharp spear, and the winged arrow, had full employ ; and so many buffaloes were slain, that, after taking their tongues and other choice parts of them for food, hundreds of carcases were left for the prairie wolves to devour. Thus it is that man, whether savage or civilized, too often becomes prod igal of the abundance he enjoys, and knows not the value of what he possesses, till taught it by that want into which his thoughtless waste has plunged him. Austin. Ay, they will soon kill all the buffaloes, if they go on in that manner. Hunter. At present, they are to be seen on the prairie in droves of many thousands ; the woods, also, abound THE GRIZZLY BEAR. 137 THE AMERICAN BISON. with them ; and often, in the heat of summer, an incal culable number of heads and horns are visible in the rivers, the bodies of the bisons being under the water. Brian. What, because they are so hot ? Hunter. Yes : the bison suffers very much from heat. It is no uncommon thing to see a bison bull lay himself down in a puddle of water, and turn himself round and round in it, till he has half covered his body with mud. The puddle hole which he thus makes is called a bison wallow, or more commonly a buffalo wallow. The puddle cools him while he is in it, and when he quits it, the mud plastered on his sides defends him from the burning heat of the sun. Basil. What a figure a bison bull must cut, with his shaggy hair, and his sides plastered all over with mud ! Hunter. Bears are often most formidable foes to the hunter ; but there is this striking difference between the common bear and the grizzly bear, that while the former eats mostly vegetables, and will do his best to get out of your way, the latter eats nothing but flesh, and is almost sure to attack you. Hunters and Indians make a rule never to fire at a grizzly bear, unless in self-defence : except in cases when they have a strong party, or can fire from a tree ; for, when he is wounded, his fury knows no bounds. Jlustin. How can you escape from a grizzly bear, if he is so very terrible ? S 12* 138 ADVENTURE WITH A GRIZZLY BEAR. THE COMMON BLACK BEAR. Hunter. The common bear, such as is represented in this picture, can climb a tree, as I have already told you ; but the grizzly bear is no climber. If you have time to get up into a tree, you are safe : if not, you must reserve your shot till the animal is near you, that you may take a steady aim. You must then fight it out in the best way you can. Grizzly bears are sometimes of a very large size, measuring from nine to ten feet in length. It was on the Upper Missouri that I was once chased by one of these terrible fellows, and a narrow escape I had. Austin. How was it? Tell us all about it. Hunter. I had just fired off my rifle at a bird which I took for an eagle, little thinking how soon my wasted bullet, for I did not strike the bird, would be wanted in defence of my life. The crack of my piece reverberated among the rocky fragments, and blocks of pumice stone, that lay scat tered on the broken ground, between the green-topped bluffs that rose from the prairie ; and I suppose it was this that brought Sir Bruin upon me. He came on with huge strides, and I had nothing but a hunting knife lo use in rny THE BEAR AND THE COW. 139 defence, my discharged rifle being of no use. There was no tree near, so, throwing down my piece, I drew my knife as a forlorn hope in my extremity. flustin. A hunting knife against a grizzly bear ! Hunter. When the huge monster was within a few yards cf me, to my amazement, I heard the report of two rifles, and in the same instant my tremendous foe fell, with two bullets in his head. This timely assistance was rendered me by two of our party, who, having followed my track, were near me when I thought myself alone. Austin. Never was any one in greater danger. Hunter. I will tell you an anecdote that I have read of a common bear. A boy, about eight years old, was sent by his mother into the woods, to bring home the old cow. At the distance of somewhat more than half a mile, he found her, attended by some young cattle. He began to drive them home ; but he had not proceeded far when a bear came out of the bushes, and seemed disposed to make his acquaintance. The boy did not like his company ; so he jumped upon the old cow's back, and held on by her horns. She set out at full speed, and the bear after her. The young cattle, lifting their tails in the air, brought up the rear. Thus they proceeded, the young ones behind frequently coming up to the bear, and giving him a thrust with their horns. This compelled him to turn round, and thus the old cow, with her brave rider, got somewhat in advance. The bear then galloped on, and approaching the boy, attempted to seize him ; but the old cow cantered along, and finally brought the boy to his mother's house in safety. The bear, thinking he should not be welcome there, after approaching the house, turned about, and scampered back to the forest. Sir Bruin knew when he was well off*; a whole skin is the best covering a bear can have ; but, if he ventures among mankind, he is likely to have it stripped over his ears. JZustin. Famous ! famous ! That was a capital old cow, for she saved the boy's life. 140 CATCHING WILD HORSES. Basil. But the young cattle helped her, for they pushed the bear with their horns. Brian. Please to tell us about wild horses. Hunter. The hordes or bands of wild horses that abound in some of the prairies, are not considered to be natives of America, but the offspring of Spanish horses brought to Mexico by Europeans. They are extremely shy, keen in their sight, and swift of foot, so that to come up with them, except by surprise, is no easy thing. I have seen them iu great numbers from the brow of a bluif, or when peeping at them cautiously from a ravine. Austin. What kind of horses are they ; and of what colour? Hunter. Some of them are fine animals, but in general they are otherwise. Stunted and coarse in appearance, they are of various colors bay, chestnut, cream, grey, piebald, white, and black, with long tails, fetlocks, top-knots, and manes. Brian. How do they catch them ? Hunter. In different ways. Sometimes a well-mounted Indian, armed with his rifle, follows a horde of horses, until he can get a fair shot at the best among them. He aims at the top of the neck, and if he succeeds in striking the high gristle there, it stuns the animal for a moment, when he falls to the ground without being injured. This is called creasing a horse ; but a bad marksman would kill, and not crease the noble animal he seeks to subdue. Austin. What other way is there of catching wild horses ? for that seems a very bad one. Basil. It is a very bad way. They ought not to shoot them. Hunter. They are much more commonly taken with the laso; which is a thong at least a dozen yards long, ending in a noose. This the Indians throw, at full gallop, over the head of the flying steed they wish to secure. Rarely do they miss their aim. When a horse is thus caught, the hunter leaps from his steed, and lets out the laso gradually, THE COUGER. i4l choking his captive till he is obliged to stop : he then con trives to hopple or tie his fore legs ; to fasten the laso round his lower jaw ; to breathe in his nostrils, and to lead him home. Austin. Breathe in his nostrils ! Why, what does he do that for ? Hunter. Because experience has taught him, that it does much towards rendering his captive more manageable. It is said, that if an Indian breathes freely into the nostrils of a wild young buffalo on the prairie, the creature will follow him with all the gentleness and docility of a lamb. Brian. Well ! that does appear strange ! Hunter. There is one animal, which the Indians, the hunters, and trappers sometimes meet with, that I have not mentioned. It is the couger, or panther, or painter, or THE COUGER. American lion ; for it goes by all these names. Now and then, it is to be seen in the thick forests of the west ; but, being a sad coward, it is not so much dreaded as it other wise would be. Brian. I should not much like to meet a couger. Hunter. The common wolf of America is as big as a Newfoundland dog,. and a sulky, savage-looking animal he is. So long as he can feed in solitary places he prefers to do so, but, when hunger-pressed, he attacks the fold ; after which Mr. Grizzly-skin loses no time in getting to a place of shelter, for he knows that should he outrun the staunch hounds that will soon be on his track, yet will a rifle ball outrun him. 142 PRAIRIE WOLF. RED DEER. THE COMMON WOLF. Brian. Yes, yes ; Mr. Grizzly-back is very cunning. Hunter. The prairie wolf is smaller than the common wolf. Prairie wolves hunt after deer, which they generally overtake ; or k;eep close to a buffalo herd, feeding on such as die, or on those who are badly wounded in fighting with one another. The white, black, and clouded wolves are in the northern parts. Austin. I cannot bear those wolves. THE RED DEER OF EUROPE. VARIOUS KINDS OF DEER. 143 Hunter. There are many kinds of deer. Here is a pic ture of the common red deer of Europe. I told you, that sometimes a deer hunt took place on a large scale, by en closing a circle, and driving the deer into it. In shooting antelopes, the hunter has only to stick up his ramrod in their neighbourhood, and throw over it his handkerchief; while he, with his rifle ready loaded, lies on the grass near at hand. The antelopes will soon approach the handker chief to see what it is, when the hunter may send a bullet through two or three of them. The largest deer is the moose deer, which is often seen seven feet high. He is an THE MOOSE DEER. awkward, overgrown-looking creature, with broad horns; but, awkward as he is, I question if any of you could out run him. Mountain and valley, lake and river, seem alike to him, for he crosses them all. In the snow, to be sure, the unwearied and persevering hound will overtake him ; but let him beware of his horns, or he will be flying head over heels in the air in a twinkling. The moose deer, however, cannot successfully strive with the hunter, for a bullet from his rifle overtakes him, and brings him to the ground. Austin. Nothing can stand against man. Hunter. And yet what is man opposed to his Maker? His strength is perfect weakness ! In a moment, in the 144 VARIOUS KINDS OF DEER. twinkling of an eye, he " changes his countenance, and sends him away." Job xiv. 20. Basil. What other kinds of deer do Indians catch ? THE WAPITI DEER. Hunter. The elk, with his large branching horns, who wouid despise a palace as a dwelling place. Nothing less than the broad sky above his head, and the ground of the boundless forest beneath his feet, will satisfy him. After the elk, come the Virginia, or common deer, the wapiti deer, the black tailed deer, and the cariboo. All these are the prey of the hunter. Their savoury flesh supplies him with food, and their soft skins are articles of merchandise. On the rugged edge of pumice stone rocks, and the wild front of precipitous clayey cliffs, may often be seen moun tain sheep skipping from one ledge to another, giving life to the solitary place, and an added interest to the picturesque beauty of lonely spots. Austin. You have mentioned all the animals now, I think, that the hunter chases ; for you spoke before about beavers, badgers, foxes, racoons, squirrels, and some others. PRAIRIE FIRES. 145 Basil. You have never told us, though, how they catch the muskrat. I should like to know that, Hunter. Well, then, I will tell you how they take the muskrat, and speak a word about the prairie dog. Prairie dogs are a sort of marmot, but their bark is somewhat like that of a small dog. Rising from the level prairie, you may sometimes see, for miles together, small hillocks of a conelike form, thrown up by the prairie dogs, which burrow some eight or ten feet in the ground. On a fine day, myriads of these dogs, not much unlike so many rats, run about, or sit barking on the tops of their hillocks. The moment any one approaches them, they disappear, taking shelter in their burrows. Basil. Oh, the cunning little rogues. Hunter. The muskrat builds his burrow, which looks like a haystack of wild rice stalks ; so that, while he has a dry lodging, a hole at the bottom enables him, when he pleases, to pass into the shallow water beneath his burrow or lodge. In taking a muskrat, a person strikes the top of the burrow, and out scampers the tenant within ; but no sooner does he run through his hole into the shallow water, than he is instantly caught with a spear. Myriads of these little animals are taken in this manner for their fur. Brian. They must be a good deal like prairie dogs, though one has his house on the land, and the other in the water. Hunter. These wide prairies, on which roam bisons, and horses, and deer innumerable ; and these shallow waters, where muskrats abound; will most likely, in succeeding years, assume another character. White men will possess them; civilized manners and customs will prevail, and Christianity spread from the Mississippi to the Rocky Mountains; for the kingdoms of the world are to become the kingdoms of the Lord and of his Christ. Austin. You have told us a great deal indeed, to-day, about the prairies. Hunter. I have already spoken of the prairie fires; I T 13 146 A PRAIRIE ON FIRE. mean the burning grass, set on fire by accident, or purposely, for the double advantage of obtaining a clearer path and an abundant crop of fresh grass ; but I must relate an ad venture of my own, of a kind not likely to be forgotten. Austin. Now for a flare up ! Hunter. So long as a prairie fire is confined to the high grounds, there is very little danger from it ; for, in such situations, the grass being short, the fire never becomes large, though the line of flame is a long one. Birds and beasts retire before it in a very leisurely manner ; but in places where the grass is long, it is very different. Austin. I should like to see one of those great, high round bluffs on fire. There must be a fine bonfire then. Hunter. There you are mistaken, for, as I have already told you, the grass is short on the bluffs. To be sure, the sight of a bluff on fire, on a dark night, is very singular ; for as you can only see the curved line of flame, the bluff being hidden by the darkness, so it seems as though the curved lines of flame were up in the air, or in the sky. Basil. They must look very beautiful. Hunter. They do : but when a fire takes place in a low bottom of long grass, sedge, and tangled dry plants, more than six feet high ; and when a rushing wind urges on the fiery ruin, flashing like the lightning and roaring like the thunder ; the appearance is not beautiful, but terrible. I have heard the shrill war-whoop, and the clash of contend ing tomahawks in the fight, .when no quarter has been given. I have witnessed the wild burst, where Niagara, a river of waters, flings itself headlong down the Horseshoe Fall ; and I have been exposed to the fury of the hurricane. But none of these are half so terrible, as the flaming ocean of a long-grass prairie fire. Austin. Oh ! it must be terrible. Hunter. The trapper is bold, or he is not fit for nis call ing ; the hunter is brave, or he could never wage war as he does with danger ; and the Indian from his childhood is familiar with peril : yet the Indian, the hunter, and the A PRAIRIE ON FIRE. 147 trapper tremble, as well they may, at a prairie meadow are. But I must relate my adventure. Basil. I am almost afraid to hear it. Austin. Pooh ! nonsense ! It will never hurt you. Hunter. A party of five of us, well mounted, and ha\ ing with us our rifles and lances, were making the best of our way across one of the low prairie bottoms, where the thick coarse grass and shrubs, even as we sat on our horses, were often as high as our heads ; when we noticed, every now and then, a flight of prairie hens, or grouse, rapidly winging their way by us. Two, of our party were of the Blackfoot tribe ; their names were Ponokah (elk) and Moeese (wig wam). These Indians had struck into a buffalo trail, and we had proceeded for a couple of hours as fast as the matted grass and wild pea-vines would allow, when sud denly the wind that was blowing furiously from the east became northerly, and in a moment, Moeese, snuffing the air, uttered the words,- " Pah kapa," (bad ;) and Ponokah, glancing his eyes northward, added, " Eehcooa pah kaps," (very bad.) Austin. I guess what was the matter. Brian. And so do I. Hunter. In another instant, a crash was heard, and Po nokah, who was a little ahead,cried out, " Eneuh !" (buffalo !) when three bisons came dashing furiously along another trail towards us. No sooner did they set eyes on us, than they abruptly turned southward. By this time, we all un derstood that, to the north, the prairie was on fire ; for the air smelt strong. Deer, and bisons, and other animals,' sprang forward in different directions from the prairie, and a smoke, not very distant, like a cloud, was visible. Austin. I hope you set off" at full gallop. Hunter. We were quite disposed to urge our horses on ward ; but the trail took a turn towards the burning prairie and we were obliged to force our way into another, in doing which my horse got his feet entangled, and he fell, pitching me over his head some yards before him. I was 148 A PRAIRIE ON FIRE. not hurt by the fall, for the thick herbage protected me ; but the worst of it was, that my rifle, which had been care lessly slung, fell from my shoulder among the long grass, and being somewhat confused by my -fall, I could not find it. Brian. You ought not to have stopped a moment. Hunter. Perhaps not ; but, to a hunter, a rifle is no tri fling loss, and I could not make up my mind to lose mine. Time was precious, for the smoke rapidly increased ; and both Ponokah and Moeese, who knew more about burning prairies than I did, and were therefore more alive to our danger, became very impatient. By the time my rifle was found, and we were ready to proceed, the fire had gained upon us in a crescent form, so that before and behind we were hemmed in. " The only point clear of the smoke was to the south ; but no trail ran that way, and we feared that, in forcing a road, another accident might occur like that which had befallen us. Austin. I cannot think what you could do in such a situation. Hunter. Our disaster had come upon us so unexpected ly, and the high wind had so hurried on the flaming ruin, that there seemed to be no time for a moment's thought. Driven by necessity, we plunged into the thick grass to the south ; but our progress was not equal to that of the fire, which was now fast approaching, blackening the air with smoke, and roaring every moment louder and louder. Our destruction seemed almost certain ; when Ponokah, judging, I suppose, by the*comparative thinness of the smoke eastward, that we were not far from the boundary of the prairie bottom, dashed boldly along a trail in that direction, in the face of the fire, crying out to us to follow. With the daring of men in extremity, we put our horses to their speed, broke through the smoke, fire, grass, and flame, and found ourselves almost instantly, on a patch of ground over which the fire had passed ; but, as the grass had evidently been scanty, we were free from danger. From a neighbouring bluff, which A PRAIRIE ON FIRE. 149 the smoke had before hidden from our view, we saw the progress of the flame a spectacle that filled me with amazement. The danger we had escaped seemed increased by the sight of the fearful conflagration, and I know not whether terror, amazement, or thankfulness most occupied my mind. Austin. That was, indeed, a narrow escape. Hunter. As we stood on the blurT, dismounted, to gaze on the flying flames which appeared in the distance like a huge fiery snake of some miles in length, writhing in torture my wonder increased. The spectacle was fearful and sublime, and the conflagration nearest to us resembled the breakers of the deep that dash on a rocky shore, only formed of fire, roaring and destroying, preceded by thick clouds, of smoke. Before then, I had been accustomed to sights and scenes of peril, and had witnessed the burning of short grass to some extent ; but this was the first time I had been in such fearful danger the first time I felt the awfulness of such a situa tion the first time that I had really seen the prairie on fire. Brian. There is nothing in the world that is like a burn ing prairie, unless it be a burning mountain. Hunter. A burning prairie, when we are near it, is a vast and overwhelming spectacle ; but every rising and setting sun exhibits Almighty wisdom, power, and good ness, on a scale infinitely beyond that of a hundred burning prairies. It is a good thing to accustom ourselves to re gard the works of creation around us with that attention and wonder they are calculated to inspire, and especially to ponder on the manifestation of God's grace set forth in his holy word. When burning prairies and burning mountains shall be all extinguished ; when rising and setting suns and all earthly glory shall be unknown ; then shall the follow ers of the Redeemer gaze on the brighter glories of heaven, and dwell forever with their Leader and their Lord. 13* BUFFALO DANCE. CHAPTER XL Games Ball play among the Choctaws Ball play by the women of the Prairie du Chien Horsemanship Foot races Canoe races Wrestling The game of tchung-kee among the Mandans Arch ery The game of the arrow Swimming Mode of swimming customary among the Indians Prank of the Minataree children on the Knife rivei Buffalo dance The Poor Indian women. PON their return home, buffaloes, bears, wild horses, wolves, deer, prai rie dogs, and muskrats, were a fruitful source of conversation to the young people in their leisure hours, until such time as they could again visit their interesting friend at the cottage. Various plans were formed to attack grizzly bears, to catch wild horses, and to scare away half famished wolves ; in all of which, Jowler, notwithstanding his bad behaviour at the buffalo 150 ^~ BEAR HUNT. 151 hunt, was expected to act a distinguished part. Black Tom was scarcely considered worth thinking about, he being too wild by half for a wild horse, and too faint-hearted for a grizzly bear. At one time, it was so far determined for him to play the part of a prairie dog, that Austin set about digging a hole for him : before it was finished, however, the plan was abandoned ; Brian and Basil both feeling pos itive that, let Austin dig a hole as deep as he would, Black Tom would never be persuaded to run into it. After much deliberation, catching wild horses being given up on the score that Black Tom would run away too fast, and Jowler would not run away at all a bear hunt was resolved on, having, as Brian observed, two especial advantages : the first, that all of them could enjoy the sport at once ; and the second, that Jowler would be sure to attack them all, just like a grizzly bear. No time was lost in preparing their long spears, and in dressing themselves as much like renowned chiefs as their knowledge and resources would allow. And, in order that Jowler might the more closely resemble a grizzly bear, a white pinafore was spread over his broad back, and lied round his neck. The lawn was, as before, the scene of their high exploits, the prairie on which the fearful monster was to be overcome ; and, to the credit of their courage be it spoken, neither Austin, Brian, nor Basil, manifested the slightest token of fear. Jowler was led by them among the bushes of the shrub bery, that he might burst out upon them all at once ; and this part of the arrangement answered excellently well, only that Jowler arrived on the prairie first instead of last ; add to which, the bushes having so far despoiled him of his grizzly hide, the white pianfore, as to have pulled it off his back, he set to work mouthing and tearing at it, to get it from his neck. At last, in spite of a few untoward and un- bearlike actions on the part of Jowler, the attack took place. With undaunted resolution, Austin sustained Jowler's most furious charges; Brian scarcely manifested less bravery; 152 BALL PLAY OF THE CHOCTAWS. and little Basil, though he had broken his lance, and twice fallen to the earth, made a desperate and successful attack on his fearful antagonist, and caught him fast by the tail. It was on the whole a capital adventure ; for though they could not with truth say that they had killed the bear, neither could th-j bear say that he had killed them. The bear hunt being at.. an end, they set off for the cot tage ; for the hunter had promised to describe to them some of the games of the Indian tribes. He was soon engaged in giving them an account of the ball play of the Choctaws. " The Choctaws," said he, "are perhaps, about fifteen thou sand in number ; they were removed from the northern parts of Alabama, and from the Mississippi, and are now south of the Arkansas. At the Choctaw ball play thou sands of spectators attend, and sometimes a thousand young men are engaged in the game/' 4 Austin. A thousand men playing at ball! What a sight! Hunter. The game is played in the open prairie, and the players have no clothes on but their breech-clothes, a beau tiful belt formed of beads, a mane of dyed horse hair of different colours, and a tail sticking out behind like the tail of a horse ; this last is either formed of white horse hair or of quills. Brian. And how do they play ? Hunter. Every man has two sticks, with a kind of hoop at the end, webbed across, and with these they catch and strike the ball. The goal on each side, consisting of two upright posts arid a pole across the top, is set up twenty-five feet high ; these goals are from forty to fifty rods apart. Every time either party can strike the ball through their goal, one is reckoned, and a hundred is the game. Basil. What a scuffle there must be among so many of them ! Hunter. When every thing is ready for the game to begin, a gun is fired ; and some old men, who are to be the judges, fling up the ball in the middle, halfway between the two goals. INDIAN HORSEMANSHIP. 153 Brian. Now for the struggle. Hunter. One party being painted white, every man knows his opponent. No sooner is the ball in the air, than a rush takes place. Every one with his webbed stick raised above his head; no one is allowed to strike or to touch the ball with his hands. They cry out aloud at the very top of their voices, rush on, leap up te strike the ball, and do all they can to help their own side and hinder their opponents. They leap over each other, dart between their rivals' legs, trip them up, throw them down, grapple with two or three at a time, and often fall to fisty cuffs in right earnest. There they are, in the midst of clouds of dust, running, striking, and struggling with all their might ; so that, what with the rattle of the sticks, the cries, the wrestling, the bloody noses, the bruised shins, the dust, uproar, and confusion, such a scene of excitement is hardly to be equalled by any other game in the world. Brian. How long does the game last ? Hunter. It begins about eight or nine o'clock in the morning, and sometimes is scarcely finished by sunset. A minute's rest is allowed every time the ball is urged beyond the goal, and then the game goes on again till it is finished. There, is another ball play somewhat resembling this, which is played by the women of the Prairie du Chien, while the men watch the progress of the game, or lounge on the ground, laughing at them. Austin. Do they ever run races ? Hunter. Yes, and very expert they are ; "many of the tribes are extravagantly fond of horses. When you see a Red Indian, with his shield and quiver, his ornamented shirt, leggins, and mocassins ; his long hair flowing behind him, or his head-dress of the war-eagle falling gracefully nearly to his heels ; his lance in his hand ; and his dress ornamented with ermine, shells, porcupine quills, and a profusion of scalp locks. When you see him thus standing on the ground, you see him out of character. He should spring on a horse wild as the winds j and then, as he U 154 DESCRIPTION OF A CHIEF. orandishes his lance, with his pendant plumes, and hair and scalp-locks waving in the breeze, you see him in his proper element. Horse racing among the Indians is an exciting scene. The cruel custom, of urging useful and noble ani mals beyond their strength, is much the same in savage as in civilized life ; but the scene is oftentimes more wild, strange, and picturesque than you can imagine. Austin. Ay, I remember that the Camanchees are capital riders. I was a Camanchee in our buffalo hunt. Brian, you have not forgotten that ? Brian. But you had no horse to ride. I was a Sioux ; and the Sioux are capital riders too. Basil. And so are the Pawnees. I was a Pawnee in the buffalo hunt. Hunter. It was told me that the Camanchees and, in deed, some of the Pawnees also were able, while riding a horse at full gallop, to lie along on one side of him, with an arm in a sling from the horse's neck, and one heel over the horse's back ; and that, while the body was thus screened from an enemy, they could use their lances with effect, and throw their arrows with deadly aim. The Camanchees are so much on their horses, that they never seem so much at their ease as when they are flying across the prairie on horseback. ftustin. It would be worth going to the prairies, if it were only to see the Camanchees ride. Hunter. I will now read to you Mr. Catlin's own de scription which accompanies in his work this fine picture : " No part of the human race can present a more pic turesque and thrilling appearance on horseback than a party of Crows, rigged out in all their plumes and trappings galloping about and yelping, in what they call a war- parade, i. e. in a sort of tournament or sham fight, passing rapidly through the evolutions of battle, and vaunting forth the wonderful character of their military exploits. This is an amusement, of which they are excessively fond; and CHIEF OF THE CROWS. 155 DESCRIPTION OF A CHIEF. 157 great preparations are invariably made for these occasional shows. " No tribe of Indians on the Continent is better able to produce a pleasing and thrilling effect in these scenes, nor any more vain, and consequently, better prepared to draw pleasure and satisfaction from them, than the Crows. They may be justly said to be the most beautifully clad of all the Indians in these regions, and bringing from the base of the Rocky Mountains a fine and spirited breed of wild horses, have been able to create a great sensation among the Mina- tarees, who have been paying them all attentions and all honours for some days past. From among these showy fellows who have been entertaining us and pleasing them selves with their extraordinary feats of horsemanship, I have selected one of the most conspicuous, and transferred him and his horse, with arms and trappings as faithfully as I could to the canvass, for the information of the world, who will learn vastly more from the picture than they could from oral or written delineations. " I have painted him as he sat for me, balanced on his leaping wild horse, with his shield and quiver slung on his back, and his long lance decorated with the eagle's quills, trailed in his right hand. His shirt, and his leggings, and moccasins, were of the mountain goats skins, beautifully dressed ; and their seams every where fringed with a pro fusion of scalp-locks, taken from the heads of his enemies, slain in battle. His long hair, which reached almost to. the ground while he was standing on his feet, was now lifted in the air, and floating in black waves over the hips of his leaping charger. On his head, and over his shining black locks, he wore a magnificent crest or head-dress, made of the quills of the war-eagle and ermine skins ; and on his horse's head also, was another of equal beauty, and pre cisely the same pattern and material. A'dded to these or naments, there were yet many others which contributed to his picturesque appearance, and among them a beautiful netting of various colours, that completely covered and 14 158 INDIAN GAMES. almost obscured the horse's head and neck, and extended over its back and its hips, terminating in a most extrava gant and magnificent crupper, embossed with rows of beau tiful shells and porcupine quills of various colours. "With all these picturesque ornaments and trappings upon and about him ; with a noble figure, and the bold stamp of a wild gentleman on his face, added to the rage and spirit of his wild horse, in time with whose leaps he issued his startling (though smothered) yelps, as he grace fully leaned to and fro, leaving his plumes and his plumage, his long locks and his fringes, to float in the wind, he gal loped about, and felt exceeding pleasure in displaying the extraordinary skill which a lifetime of practice and experi ment had furnished him in the beautiful art of riding and managing his horse, as well as in displaying to advantage his weapons and ornaments of dress, by giving them the grace of motion, as they were brandished in the air and floating in the wind." Besides horse races, the Indians have foot races, and canoe races, arid wrestling. Among the Mandans, the game of tchung-kee was very popular^ quite .as much so as cricket is on fine summer days in England. Austin. Tchung-kee ! What a name that is for a pastime ! I wish they would have more common names. Brian. Oh, the name of tchung-kee is nothing to what you will have to learn, Austin. Do you remember Duhk- pits-o-ho-shee, "the red bear;" arid Mah-to-rah-rish-nee- eeh-ee-rah, or something like it, " the grizzly bear that runs without regard ?" Austin. Yes ; those names are much harder. How do the Indians play at tchon-tee, or thung-kee, or whatever it is? Hunter. The game is played by one rolling a stone ring along, and then running after it, and sliding his tchung-kee for it to fall upon. Basil. But what is a tchung-kee, for I cannot think ? Hunter. A tchung-kee is a stick ; it may be, perhaps, six ARCHERY. 159 or seven feet long, on which are fastened bits of leather ; and he who slides his tchung-kee along the ground, tries so to place it, that the ring, when it stops, may fall with one of the bits of leather through it. Perhaps, you might not find much amusement in the game, but the Mandans used to practise it continually* Brian. I think we might soon make some tchung-kees, and bowl the ring across the lawn, Austin. Hunter. That would never do ; the game is played on a hard clayey ground ; for neither the ring nor the tchung-kee would run far enough along the grass. Brian. Then it must be on the broad gravel walk ; that will do capitally. Hunter. The Indians are very fond of archery, in which, using their bows and arrows so much as they do, it is no wonder they are very clever. The game of the arrow is a very favourite amusement with them. Basil. That game has a much easier name than the tchung-kee. How is it played ? Hunter. It is played on the open prairie, where the best bowmen assemble, to strive one with another. There is no target set up to shoot at, as there is in English archery ; but every archer sends his first arrow as high as . he can into the air. Jlustin. Ay, I see ! He who shoots the highest in the air is the winner. Hunter. Not exactly so. It is not he who shoots highest, that is the victor ; but he who can get the greatest number of arrows into the air at the same time. Picture to youj- selves a hundred well made, active young men, on the open prairie, each carrying a bow, with eight or ten arrows, in his left hand. He sends an arrow into the air with all his strength, and then, instantly, with a rapidity that is truly surprising, shoots arrow after arrow upwards, so that, before the first arrow has reached the ground, half a dozen others have mounted into the air. Often have I seen seven or eight shafts from the same bow in the air at once. 160 EXPERTNESS IN SWIMMING. Austin. Brian, we will try what we can do to-morrow , but we shall never have so many as seven or eight up at once. Hunter. The Indians are famous swimmers, and, indeed, if they were not, it would often go hard with them. They are taught when very young to make their way through the water, arid though they do it usually in a mariner differ ent from that adopted by white men, I hardly think many white men would equal them, either as to their speed, or the length of time they will continue in the water. Austin. But how do they swim, if their way is different to ours? lean swim a little, and I should like to learn their way, if it is the best. Hunter. I am not quite prepared to say that ; for, though red men are more expert swimmers than white men, that may be owing to their being more frequently in the water. They fish a great deal in the lakes ; and they have often to cross brooks and rivers in too much haste to allow them to get into a canoe. A squaw thinks but very little of plung ing into a rolling river with a child on her back ; for the women swim nearly, or altogether, as well as the men. Austin. But you did not tell us wherein their way of swimming is different from ours. Hunter. Whites swim by striking out their legs and both arms at the same time, keeping their breasts straight against the water ; but the Indian strikes out with one arm only, turning himself on his side every stroke, first on one side and then oil the other, so that, instead of his broad chest breasting the water in front, he cuts through it sideways, finding less resistance in that way than the other. Much may be said in favour of both these modes. I always considered myself to be a good swimmer, but I was no match for the Red Indians. I shall not soon forget a prank that was once played me on the Knife River, by some of the Minatarees; it convinced me of their adroitness in the water. INDIAN DANCES. 161 Basil. What was it ? Did they dip your head under the water ? Hunter. No ; but you shall hear. I was crossing the river in a bull boat, which is nothing more than a tub, made of buffalos' skin, stretched on a framework of willow .Doughs. The tub was just big enough to hold me, and the few things which I had with me ; when suddenly a group of young swimmers, most of them mere children, surrounded me, and began playfully to turn my tub round and round in the stream. Not being prepared to swim, on account of my dress, I began to manifest some fear lest my poor tub should be overturned ; but the more fearful I was, the better pleased were my mirthful tormentors. Austin. Ah! ah ! ah ! 1 can see it spinning round like a peg top, in the middle of the river. Brian. And did they upset the tub ? Hunter. No. After amusing themselves for some time at my expense, now and then diving under the tub, and then pulling down the edge of it level with the water, on receiving a few beads, or other trifles which I happened to have with me, they drew me and my bull boat to the shore in safety. They were beautiful swimmers, and, as I told you, not soon shall I forget them. The dances among the Indians are very numerous ; some of them are lively enough, while others are very grave ; and, then, most of the tribes are fond of relating adventures. Basil. Please to tell us the names of all the dances. Hunter. That would not be a very easy undertaking. Let me see ; there are the buffalo dance, the bear dance, the dog dance, and the eagle dance. And then there are the ball play dance, the green corn dance, the beggars' dance, the slave dance, the snow-shoe dance, and the straw dance ; and, besides these, there are the discovery dance, the brave dance, the war dance, the scalp dance, the pipe of peace dance, and many others that I do not at this moment remember. Brian* You must please to tell us about them all. V 14* 162 THE BUFFALO DANCE. Austin. But not all at once, or else we shall have too short an account. Suppose you tell us of two or three of them now. Hunter. To describe every dance at length would be tiresome, as many of them have the same character. It will be better to confine ourselves to a few of the principal dances. I have known a buffalo dance continue for a fort night or longer, day and night, without intermission. When I was among the Mandans, every "Indian had a buffalo mask ready to put on whenever he required it. It was composed of the skin of a buffalo's head, with the horns to it ; a long thin strip of the buffalo's hide, with the tail at the end of it, hung down from the back of the mask. Austin. What figures they would look with their masks on ! Did you say that they kept up the dance day and night ? Hunter. Yes. The Mandans were strong in their vil lage, but comparatively weak whenever they left it, for then they were soon in the neighbourhood of their powerful enemies. This being the case, when the buffaloes of the prairie wandered far away from them, they were at times half starved. The buffalo dance was to make buffaloes come back again to the prairies near them. Brian. But how could that bring them back again ? Hunter. The buffalo dance was a kind of homage paid to the Great Spirit, that he might take pity on them, and send them supplies. The dancers assembled in the middle of the village, each wearing his mask, with its horns and long tail, and carrying in his hand a lanceror a bow and arrows. The dance began, by about a dozen of them, thus attired, starting, hopping, jumpmg, and creeping in all manner of strange uncouth forms ; singing, yelping, and making odd sounds of every description, while others were shaking rat tles and beating drums with all their might ; the drums, the rattles, the yelling, the frightful din, with the uncouth antics of the dancers, altogether presented such a scene, STORY OF AN INDIAN WOMAN. 163 that, were you once to be present at a buffalo dance, you would talk of it after, all the days of your lives. Basil. And do they keep that up for a fortnight ? Hunter. Sometimes much longer, for they never give over dancing till the buffaloes come. Every dancer, when he is tired, and this he makes known by crouching down quite low, is shot with blunt arrows, and dragged away, when his place is supplied by another. While the dance is going on, scouts are sent out to look for buffaloes, and as soon as they are found, a shout of thanksgiving is raised to the Great Spirit, to the medicine man, and to the dancers, and preparation is made for a buffalo hunt. After this, a great feast takes place ; all their sufferings from scarcity are forgotten, and they are as prodigal, and indeed wasteful, of their buffalo meat, as if they had never known the want of it. Austin. Well, I should like to see the buffalo dance. Could not we manage one on the lawn, Brian ? Brian. But where are we to get the buffalo masks from ? The Buffalo hunt did very well, but I hardly think we could manage the dance. Please to tell us of the bear dance. Hunter. I think it will be better to tell you about that, and other dances, the next time that you visit me ; for I want to read you a short account, which I have here, of a poor Indian woman of the Dog-ribbed tribe. I have not said much of Indian women, and I want you to feel kindly towards them. It was Hearne, who went with a party from Hudson's Bay to the Northern Ocean, many years ago, who fell in with the poor woman. Basil. Oh, yes ; let us hear all fcbout her ; and you can tell us of the dances when we come again. Hunter. Now, then, I will begin. One day in January, when they were hunting, they saw the track of a strange snow shoe, which they followed, and at a considerable dis tance came to a little hut, where they discovered a young woman sitting alone. On examination, she proved to be 164 STORY OP AN INDIAN WOMAN. one of the Dog-ribbed Indians, who had been taken priso ner by the Athapus-cow Indians, in the summer of 1770, and, in the following summer, when the Indians that took her prisoner were near this place, she had escaped from them, intending to return to her own country. But the dis tance being so great, and having, after she was taken prisoner, been carried in a canoe the whole way, the turnings and windings of the rivers and lakes were so numerous that she forgot the track ; so she built the hut in which she was found, .to protect her from the weather during the winter, and here she had resided from the first setting in of the fall. Brian. What, all by herself! How lonely she must have been ! Hunter. From her account of the moons passed since Her escape, it appeared that she had been nearly seven months without seeing a human face ; during all which time she had supplied herself very well, by snaring par tridges, rabbits, and squirrels : she had also killed two or three beavers, and some porcupines. She did not seem to have been in want, and had a small stock of provisions by her when she was discovered. She was in good health and condition, and one of the finest Indian women in North America. Austin. I should have been afraid that other Indians would have come and killed her. Hunter. The methods practised by this poor creature to procure a livelihood were truly admirable, and furnish proof that necessity is, indeed, the mother of invention. When the few deer sinews that she had an opportunity of taking with her were expended, in making snares and sewing her clothing, she had nothing to supply their place but the sinews of the rabbits' legs and feet. These she twisted together for that purpose with great dexterity and success. The animals which she caught in those snares, not only fur nished her with a comfortable subsistence, but of the skins she made a suit of neat and warm clothing for the winter STORY OF AN INDIAN WOMAN. 165 It is scarcely possible to conceive that a person in her forlorn situation could be so composed as to be capable of contriv ing and executing any thing that was not absolutely neces sary to her existence ; but there was sufficient proof that she had extended her care much farther, as all her clothing, besides being calculated for real service, showed great taste, and exhibited no little variety of ornament. The materials, though rude, were very curiously wrought, and so judi ciously placed, as to make the whole of her garb have a very pleasant, though rather romantic appearance. Brian. Poor woman ! I should have liked to have seen her in the hut of her own building, and the clothes of her own making. Hunter. Her leisure hours from hunting had been em ployed in twisting the inner rind, or bark, of willows into small lines, like net-twine, of which she had some hundred fathoms by her. With these she intended to make a fishing net, as soon as the spring advanced. It is of the inner bark of the willows, twisted in this manner, that the Dog-ribbed Indians make their fishing nets ; and they are much pre ferable to those made by the Northern Indians. Basil. I like that poor woman very much, indeed. Hunter. Five or six inches of an iron hoop, made into a knife, and the shank of an arrow head of iron, which served her as an awl, were all the metals this poor woman had with her when she eloped ; and with these implements, she had made herself complete snow shoes, and several other useful articles. Austin. Capital ! capital ! Why, she seems able to do every thing. Hunter. Her method of making a fire was equally sin gular and curious, having no other materials for that pur pose than two hard sulphureous stones. These, by long friction and hard knocking, produced a few sparks, which at length communicated to some touch- wood. But as this method was attended with great trouble, and not al- 166 INDIAN CANOES. ways successful, she did not suffer her fire to p out all the winter. Brian. That must have been a trouble to her. I hardly know how she could have managed that. Hunter. When the Athapus-cow Indians took this woman prisoner, they, according to the universal custom of those savages, surprised her and her party in the night, and killed every person in the tent, except herself and three other young women. Among those whom they killed were her father, mother, and husband. Her young child, four or five months old, she concealed in a bundle of clothing, and took it with her undiscovered in the night. But when she arrived at the place where her captors had left their wives, which was not far distant, they began to examine the bun dle, and finding the child, one of the women took it from her, and killed it on the spot. Basil. That was very terrible indeed. Hunter. This last piece of barbarity gave her such a disgust to those Indians, that, notwithstanding the man who took care of her treated her in every respect as his wife, and was, she said, remarkably kind to her, and very fond of her, she was so far from being able to reconcile herself to any of the tribe, that she rather chose to expose herself to want and misery, than to live in ease and affluence among persons who had so cruelly murdered her infant. INDIAN CANOES. C, DRUM. d, d, RATTLES. , DRUM. /, MYSTERY WHISTLE. g, DEER- SKIN FLUTE. CHAPTER XII. Musical instruments Whistles, lutes, rattles, and drums War whistle and deer-skin Jlute The beggars' dance The doctors' dance The pipe dance The black drink The green corn dance The dog dance The discovery dance The slave dance The scalp dance The sham scalp dance The eagle dance The snow shoe dance The straw dance The bear dance The war dance Sham fight of the Mandan boys. EVER, sure, did young people cut a more grotesque appearance, than did Austin, Brian, and Basil Edwards, in their attempt to get up a buffalo dance. Each had a mat over his shoul ders, and a brown paper mask over his face ; two wooden pegs on a string made a very respectable pair of horns ; bows and arrows were in abundance ; a child's rattle and drum, with the addition of an iron spoon and a wooden trencher, sup- plied them with music; and neither Mandan, Pawnee, Crow, Sioux, Blackfoot, nor Camanchee, could have reasonably complained of the want of either noise or confusion. 167 168 MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS. Then, again, they were very successful in bringing buffa. loes, without which the dance, excellent as it was, would have been but an unsatisfactory affair. Black Tom had been prudently shut up in the tool house, and Jowler tied up to a* tree hard by, so that, when it became expedient for buffaloes to appear, the prison house of Black Tom was opened, .and Jowler was se't at liberty. All things con sidered, the affair went off remarkably well. " We are come to hear of the bear dance, and the dog dance, and the beggars' dance, and the green corn dance,' ' said Austin to the hunter, on the following day, when a visit was paid to the cottage. The hunter, with his accus tomed kindness to the young people, lost no time in en tering on his narrative. You must not forget/' said he, "that many of the dances of the Indians partake of a reli gious character, for in them reverence and adoration are freely offered. The Indian's worship o. the Great Spirit, as I have already told you, is mingled with much of ignorance and superstition, whether in dances or in other observances; yet do they, at times, so heartily humble themselves before him, as to leave a deep impression of their sincerity. I have not as yet described their music, and therefore will do it now." Austin. Yes. Now for the music of the Red Indians. Hunter. If you ever go among them, and mingle in their dances, you must not expect to have a band of music such as you have in England. Whist I; s, flutes, rattles, and drums are almost all their musical instruments. You would be surprised at the music that some of the young Indians produce with the mystery whistle. Austin. Why is it called the mystery whistle? Hunter. I have already told you that the red man calls everything mystery, or medicine, that is surprising ; and as the notes of this whistle are particularly sweet, it may be called mystery whistle on this account. There is another whistle that is very much in request among the Indians, and that is the war whistle. The onset and the retreat in MODES OF DANCING. 169 battle are sounded on this instrument by the leading chief, who never goes on an expedition without it. It is made of bone, and sometimes it is formed of the leg bone of a large bird. The shrill scream-like note which is the signal for rushing on an enemy, would make you start. Brian. What sort of a drum do they use ? Is it a kettle drum ? Hunter. No. It is merely a piece of raw hide, stretched as tight as it can be pulled over a hoop. Some of their drums have but one end, or surface to beat upon, while others have two. What they would do in their dances without their drums 1 do not know, for in them you hear the rub, dub, dub, dub continually. Their rattles are of different kinds, some much larger than others ; but the principle on which they are formed is the same, that is, of inclosing stones of different sizes in hard, dry, raw hide. Austin. Have they no trumpets, and cymbals,, and clar ionets, and violins ? Hunter. No, nothing of the kind. They have a deer skin flute, on which very tolerable music is made ; but after all, it must be admitted that Red Indians are much better buffalo hunters than they are musicians. Austin. Ay ; they are quite at home in hunting buffaloes. Hunter. Yes ; and they are at home, too, in danc ing, being extremely agile. Some of their dances are so hideous that you would be disgusted with them, while others would keep you laughing till you knew not what to do with yourselves. Brian. You must please to tell us about these dances. Hunter. Dancing is a very favourite amusement of the Indians ; though it is, for the most part, of a character so different from that of dancing in civilized life, that few people, ignorant of its meaning and allusions, would like it. The body is so continually in a stooping attitude, and the gestures and grimaces appear to be so unmeaning, that at first it leaves an impression that they are making game of dancing, rather than entering into it in right earnest. There W 15 170 BEGGARS' DANCE. is such creeping, and jumping, and starting, that a spectator can make but little of it. Austin. I can fancy that I see a party joining in the buffalo dance now, with their masks over theii faces. Please to tell us of the bear dance. Hunter. By and by. I will describe a few other dances first. The beggars' dance is undertaken to prevail on such of the spectators as abound in comforts to offer gifts to those who are more scantily provided with them. It is danced by the young men who stand high in the tribe. These shake their rattles, hold up their pipes, and brandish their lances, while they dance ; chanting an odd strain, at the top of their voices, in praise of the Great Spirit, and imploring him to dispose the lookers-on to give freely. The dancers are all naked, with the exception of a sort of kilt formed of quills and feathers ; and a medicine man keeps on all the time beating furiously on a drum with a rattle, and hal looing out as loud as he can raise his voice. Austin. That ought to be called the begging dance, and not the beggars* dance; for the dancers do not beg for them selves, but for others. Hunter. You see that the object of the dance is a good one ; for many a skin, or pouch, or pipe, or other necessary article is given by the spectators to those of their tribe who need them. It is not common among the Indians for their aged men arid mystery men to mingle in the dance, and yet I have seen, on especial occasions, a score of them jumping and capering in a way very creditable to their agility. The Sioux have a dance that ought to be called the doctors' dance, or the dance of the chiefs. Brian. What, do the doctors dance in it ? Hunter. Yes ; while a medicine man beats his drum, and a party of young women sing, the chiefs of the tribe and ttfe doctors make their appearance, splendidly attired in their costliest head dresses, carrying a spear in one hand and a rattle in the other. Every movement is strictly regu lated by the beat of the drum, and the dance by degrees THE PIPE DANCE. 171 becomes more and more spirited, until you would suppose the party must be exhausted ; but men so much in the open air, and whose limbs are so little restrained by bandages and tight clothing, can bear a great deal of fatigue. The pipe dance of the Assinneboins is one of their most animated amusements. Basil. Oh ! do tell us about the pipe dance. Hunter. In the ground in the centre of the village, a fire is lighted, and a party assemble round it ; every one smok ing his pipe, as he sits on his buffalo skin, as though nothing was farther from his thoughts than dancing. While these are whiffing away at a distance from the fire, a mystery man, who sits nearer to the flame, smokes a longer pipe, grunting at the same time a kind of tune. Suddenly is heard the rub-a-dub of a drum, or the beat of some other instrument of the same kind ; when instantly starts to his feet one of the smokers v hopping like a parched pea, spin ning round like a top, and starting and jumping, at every beat of the drum, in a very violent manner. In this way he goes round the smokers, seemingly threatening them all, and at last pounces upon one of them, whom he compels to dance in the same manner as himself. The new dancer acts his part like the former one, capering and jumping round the smokers, and compelling another to join them. Thus the dance continues till all of them are occupied, when the hopping, the jumping* the frightful postures into which they throw themselves, together with the grunt ing, growling, singing, hooting, and hallooing, are beyond all belief. There are few dances of the Red Indians more full of wild gestures and unrestrained turbulence than the pipe dance. Basil. I hope you have a good many more dances to tell us of. Hunter. The green corn dance of the Minatarees must be described to you. Among Indian tribes, green corn is a great luxury, and the time when it arrives is a time of rejoicing. Dances, and songs of thanksgiving, are abun- 172 THE GREEN CORN DANCE. dant ; and the people give way not only to feasting, but also to gluttony; so that often, by abusing the abundance in their possession, they bring upon themselves the mise ries of want. The Red Indians have very little forethought , to enjoy the present, and to trust the future to the Great Spirit, is their constant practice. Austin. How long does the green corn dance last ? Hunter. For eight or ten days, during which time there is the most unbounded prodigality. Among many of the tribes, the black drink, a very powerful medicine, is taken two or three days before the feast, that the green corn may be eaten with a sharp appetite and an empty stomach. Brian. In what way does the green corn dance begin ? Hunter. As soon as the corn is in a proper state and this is decided by the mystery men runners are despatched through the village, that all may assemble on the following day to dance and feast. Sufficient corn for the required purpose is gathered by the women, who have the fields under their care, and a fire is made, over which a kettle, with green corn in it, is kept boiling ; while medicine men, whose bodies are strangely painted, or bedaubed with clay of a white colour, dance round it in very uncouth attitudes, with corn-stalks in their hands. Austin. I dare say, while the pot is boiling, they are all longing to begin the feast. Hunter. The first kettle full is not for themselves, it is an offering to the Great Spirit. There are many customs among the Red Indians which cannot but bring the Jews to our remembrance ; and this offering of the first kettle-full of green corn does so very forcibly. The medicine men round the fire shake their rattles, hold up their corn-stalks, and sing loudly a song of thanksgiving, till the corn is suffi ciently boiled ; it is then put over the fire, and consumed to a cinder. Before this offering is made, none of the Indians would dare to taste of the luxurious fare ; but, afterwards, their appetite is unrestrained. Austin. Then they begin to boil more corn, I suppose. THE DISCOVERY DANCE. 173 Hunter. A fresh fire is made, a fresh kettle of corn is prepared, and the dance goes on ; the medicine men keep ing close round the fire, and the others capering and shout ing in a larger circle, their energy increasing as the feast approaches nearer and nearer. The chiefs and medicine men then sit down to the feast, followed by the whole of the tribe, keeping up their festivity day after day, till the corn-field has little more grain remaining in it than what is necessary for seed. You have heard the saying, " Wilful waste brings woful want.' 1 The truth of this saying is set forth, not only in civilized life, but also among the Red Indians of North America. Basil. I wonder what dance will come next. Hunter. I need not describe many others. If I run rap idly through half a dozen more, and dwell a little on the bear dance and the war dance, you will then have heard quite enough about dances. One of the most favourite dances of the Sioux is the dog dance, though I shall say but a few words on the subject, for it is a disgusting scene. The hearts and livers of dogs, cut into shreds, are hung up, bleeding, about as high as a man's mouth ; and the dancers, after boasting loudly of their courage, and valorous exploits, approach the livers and hearts, biting off a piece and eating it, every action agreeing to the time beat by the music. None but such as have taken scalps from their enemy, are allowed to join in this dance. They boast that they have eaten of the hearts of their foes, as they then do of the heart and liver of the dogs. Brian. I do riot like that dance at all. It is all cruel, from one end of it to the other. Basil. They have no business to kill their poor dogs in that way. Hunter. The discovery dance of the Sacs and Foxes is of a different kind, for that is agreeable. While the dance is going on, the dancers pretend to discover an enemy, or some kind of game, such as a buffalo, a bear, or a deer ; ancL their attitudes, in such cases, are very striking and 15 * 174 THE SCALP DANCE. appropriate. It is also among the Sacs and Foxes that the slave dance prevails. Austin. What ! have the Red Indians slaves among them? Hunter. Not exactly in the way in which you imagine ; but there are slavish duties to be performed for the tribe, and such young men as wish to be free from the perform ance of them, agree to become slaves for the space of two years, after which time they are exempt from such servi tude, and are allowed to join in war parties. The slave dance is performed by young men of this description. The scalp dance is in use among the Sioux or Dahcotas. Brian. I am afraid the scalp dance is a very terrible one. Hunter. It is rather a fearful exhibition ; for women, in the centre of a circle, hold up and wave about the scalps which have been torn from the slaughtered foes of the tribe, while the warriors draw around them in the most furious attitudes, brandishing their war clubs, uttering the most hideous howls and screams. The Red Indians have many good qualities, but cruelty seems to mingle with their very nature ; every thing is done among them that can be done, to keep alive the desire to shed blood. The highest act a red man can perform, and that which he thinks the most useful to his tribe, and the most acceptable to the Great Spirit, is to destroy an enemy, and to tear away his scalp as a trophy of his valour. If it were only for this one trait in the Indian character, even this would be sufficient to con vince every humane person, and especially every Christian, of the duty and great advantage of spreading among them the mercy-loving principles of Christianity. A holy influ ence is necessary to teach the untutored red man to forgive his enemies, to subdue his anger, to abate his pride, and to stay his hand in shedding human blood. The new com mandment must be put in his heart : " A new command ment I give unto you, That ye love one another." John xiii. 34. The Mandan boys used to join in a sham scalp dance, in which they conducted themselves just like war- THE STRAW DANCE. 175 riors returning from a victorious enterprise against their enemies. Basil. They are all sadly fond of righting. Hunter. In the brave dance of the Ojibbeways, there is plenty of swaggering : the dancers seem as if they knew not how to be proud enough of their warlike exploits. The eagle dance, among the Choctaws, is an elegant amusement; and the snow shoe dance, of the Ojibbeways, is a very amusing one. Brian. Please tell us about them both. Hunter. I must not stay to describe them particularly : it will be enough to say, that, in the one, the dancers are painted white, and that they move about waving in their hands the tail of the eagle ; in the other which is per formed on the first fall of snow, in honour of the Great Spirit the dancers wear snow shoes, which, projecting far before" and behind their feet, give them in the dance a most strange and laughable appearance. Brian. I should very much like to see that dance ; there is nothing cruel in it at all. Basil. And I should like to see the eagle dance, for there is no cruelty in that either. Hunter. The straw dance, is a Sioux dance of a very curious description. Loose straws are tied to the bodies of naked children ; these straws are then set on fire, and the children are required to dance, without uttering any expres sion of pain. This practice is intended to make them hardy > that they may become the better warriors. Basil. That is one of the strangest dances of all. Why, the poor children must be sadly burned ! Hunter. I will now say a little about the bear dance, An4 the* war dance. The bear dance is performed by the Sioux before they set off on a bear hunt. If the bear dance were left unperformed they would hardly hope for success. The Bear spirit, if this honour were not paid to him, would be offended, and prevent their success in the chase. Austin. What! do the Sioux think there is a Bear spirit? 176 THE WAR DANCE. BEAR DANCE. Hunter. Yes. The number of spirits of one kind or other, believed in by the Indians, is very great. In the bear dance, the principal performer has a bear skin over him, the head of it hanging over his head, and the paws over his hands. Others have masks of bears' faces ; and all of them, throughout the dance, imitate the actions of a bear. They stoop down, they dangle their hands, arid make frightful noises, besides singing to the Bear spirit. If you can imagine twenty bears dancing to the music of the rattle, whistle, and drum, making odd gambols, and yelling out the most frightful noises, you will have some notion of the bear dance among the Dahcotas. Brian. Now for the war dance : that is come at last. Hunter. It is hardly possible to conceive a more arrest ing spectacle than that of the war dance among the Sioux : it exhibits Indian manners on the approach of war. As, among civilized people, soldiers are raised either by recruit ing or other means ; so, among the Red Indians, something like recruiting prevails. The red pipe is sent through the tribe, and every one who draws a whiff up the stem, thereby declares he is willing to join the war party. The warriors then assemble together, painted vermilion and other colours, DIFFICULT LESSON. IT* and dressed in their war clothes, with their weapons and their war-eagle head dresses. ftustin. What a sight that must be ! Hunter. When the mystery man has stuck up a red post in the ground, and begun to beat his drum, the warriors advance, one after another, brandishing their war clubs, and striking the red post a violent blow, while the mystery man sings their death song. When the warriors have struck the post, they blacken their faces, and all set to dancing around it. The shrill warwhoop is screamed aloud, and frantic gestures and frightful yells show, but too plainly, that there will be very little mercy extended to the enemy that falls into their hands. Brian. That war dance would make me tremble. Hunter. The Mandan boys used to assemble at the back of their village, every morning, as soon as the sun was in the skies, to practise sham fighting. Under the guidance and directions of their ablest and most courageous braves and warriors, they were instructed in all the mysteries of war. The preparation, the ambush, the surprise, the combat and the retreat, were made familiar to them : thus were they bred up from their youth to delight in warfare, and to long for opportunities of using their tomahawks and scalping knives against their foes. When you next come to the cottage, I will give you an account of the cruel customs of the mystery lodge of the Mandans ; with the hope that it will increase your abhor rence of cruelty and bloodshed, render you more than ever thankful for the blessings of peace, and more anxious for that peace of God that passeth all understanding. The hardest of all lessons, now, to a red man, is, as 1 have before intimated, to forgive his enemies ; but when, through Divine mercy, his knowledge is extended, and his heart opened to receive the truths of the gospel, he will be enabled to understand, to love, and to practise the injunction of the Saviour, " Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, 178 DESCRIPTION OF PE-TO H-PEE-KISS. do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despite fully use you, and persecute you," Matt. v. 44. Be fore you leave me, pray look -at this sketch which Mr Catlin gave me, Pe-toh-pee-kiss, the eagle ribs, a brave of the Blackfeet tribe. He boasted of eight scalps which he said he had taken from the heads of trappers and traders with his own hands. His dress was covered with scalp locks of white men and Indians. His head dress is of ermine skins with ornaments of buffalo horns. The buffalo horns are shaved thin so as to be light. They are a badge of courage and distinction. Is he not a fierce looking fellow ? PE-TOH-PEE-KISS, A. BLACKFOOT BRAVE. 179 INTERIOR OF A MYSTERY LODGE. , CHAPTER XIII. The mystery lodge of the Mandans, to appease the good and evil spirits The Great Canoe The unknown man from the prairie The old mystery man The bull dance Preparing young warriors for hardships and dangers The tortures inflicted The self-possession of the young men The last run Fainting and recovery of the tortured Indians The speech of Logan, an Indian chief- Address of the Seneca Indians to Governor Clinton Address of the chiefs of the same tribe Speech of a warrior Speech of Red Jacket, in reply to a missionary. NDOUBTEDLY it**was well for Austin Edwards and his brothers, that their acquaint ance with their friend, the hunter, commenced during one of their holidays, so that they were enabled to pay him a visit more fre quently than they otherwise could have done. The life led by the hunter would have been far too soli tary for most people; but his long wanderings in the 16 181 182 INDIFFERENCE TO PAIN. extended praires, and his long sojournings in places remote from society, had rendered the quiet tranquillity of country scenes pleasant to him : yet. still, as variety has its charms, it afforded him a pleasant change, whenever the three brothers visited the cottage. In his younger days, he had entered on the life of a hunter and trapper with much ardour. To pursue the buffalo, or more properly speaking the bison, of the prairie, the deer, and other animals, and to mingle with the differ ent tribes of Red Indians, was his delight. With wild ani mals and wild men he became familiar, and even the very dangers that beset his path gave an added interest to his pursuits : but his youth was gone, his manhood was declin ing into years, and the world that he once looked upon as an abiding dwelling place, he now regarded as the pathway to a better home. Time was, when to urge the arrow or the spear into the heart of the flying prey for mere diversion, and to join in the wild war-whoop of contending tribes, was congenial to his spirit ; but his mind had been sobered, so that now to practise forbearance and kindness was far more pleasant, than to indulge in cruelty and revenge. He looked on mankind as one great family, which ought to dwell in brotherly love; and he regarded the animal creation as given by a Heavenly Hand, for the use, and not the abuse, of man. In relating the scenes in which he had mingled in earlier years, he was aware that he could not avoid calling up, in some measure, in the youthful hearts of his auditors, the natural desire to see what was new, and strange, and won derful, without reflecting a moment on the good or the evil of the thing set before them : but he endeavoured to blend with his descriptions, such remarks as would lead them to love what was right, and to hate what was wrong. Re garding the Indian tribes as an injured people, he sought to set before his young friends the wrongs and oppressions THE GREAT CANOE. 183 practised on the red man ; that they might sympathise with his trials, and feel interested for his welfare. The few words' that had dropped from his lips, about the ordeal through which the Red Indians pass before they are allowed to join war parties, had awakened Austin's curi osity. Nor was it long before, seated with his brothers in the cottage, he was listening to the whole account. "Please to begin at the very beginning/' said he, " and I shall not lose a single word." Hunter. The Sioux, the Crows, the Sacs, the Ojibbe- ways, the Camanchees, and the Chippeways, all exhibit astonishing proofs of patience and endurance under pain ; but in none of the tribes has ever such torture been inflicted, or such courage witnessed, in enduring torment, as among the . Mandans. Brian. Now we shall hear. Hunter. The Mandans, who, as I have already told you, lived, when I was a hunter, on the Upper Missouri, held a mystery lodge every year; and this was, indeed, a very- solemn gathering of the tribe. I was never present in the lodge on this occasion, but will give you the description of an eye-witness. Basil. Why did they get together ? What did they do ? Hunter. You shall hear. The mystery lodge, or it may be called the religious meeting,, was held, first, to appease the wrath, and secure the protection, of the good and the evil spirits ; secondly, to celebrate the great flood, which they believed took place a long time ago ; thirdly, to per form the bull dance, to bring buffaloes ; and, fourthly, to try the strength, courage, and endurance of their young men* that they might know who were the most worthy among them, and the most to be relied on in war parties. Austin. How come the Mandans to know any thing about the flood, if they have no Bibles ? Hunter. That I cannot tell. Certain it is, that they had a large high tub, called the Great Canoe, in the centre of their village, set up in commemoration of the flood ; and 184 THE MANDAN MYSTERY LODGE. that they held the mystery lodge when the willow leaves were in their prime under the river bank, because, they said, a bird had brought a willow bough in full leaf to the Great Canoe in the flood. Austin. Why, it is just as if they had read the Bible. Hunter. The fact of the deluge, however they came by it, had undoubtedly been handed down among- them by tradition for many generations : but I must go on with my account of the Mandan gathering. The mystery lodge was opened by a strange looking man, whom no one seemed to know, and who came from the prairie. This odd man called for some edge tool at every wigwam in the village ; and all these tools, at the end of the ceremonies, were cast into the river from a high bank ; as an offering, I suppose, to the Water spirit. After opening the mystery lodge, and appointing a medicine man to preside, he once more disap peared on the prairie. Brian. What an odd thing ! Hunter. There were two or three score young men in the lodge, candidates for reputation among the tribe, having presented themselves to undergo the prescribed tortures. As they reclined in the lodge, every one had hung up over his head, his shield, his bow and quiver, and his medicine bag. The young men were painted different colours. The old mystery man appointed to superintend the ceremonies, sat by a fire in the middle of the lodge, smoking leisurely with his medicine pipe, in honour of the Great Spirit ; and there he sat for four days, and as many nights, during which the young men neither tasted bit nor drop, nor were they allowed to close their eyes. Basil. It was enough to kill them all. Hunter. On the floor of the lodge were buffalo and human skulls, and sacks filled with water, shaped like tur tles, or rather tortoises, with sticks by them. During each of the four days, the bull dance was performed over and over again, by Indians painted, and wearing over them whole buffalo skins, with tails, and hoofs, and horns, while DREADFUL TORTURES. 185 A iu their hands they carried rattles and long thin white wands, and bore on their backs bundles of green boughs of the willow. Some of the dancers were painted red, to represent the day ; and others black, with stars, to resemble the night. During these bull dances, which took place round the Great Canoe, the tops of the wigwams were crowded with people. Austin. I want to hear about the young Indians in the lodge, and that old fellow the mystery man. Hunter. The superstitious and cruel practices of the mystery lodge, are too fearful to dwell upon. I shall only just glance at them, that you may knovy, in some degree, the kind of trials the young Indians have to endure. While the bull dances were going on, mystery men, inside the lodge, were beating on the water sacks with sticks, and animating the young men to act courageously, telling them that the Great Spirit was sure to support them. Splints, or wooden skewers, were then run through the flesh on the back and breasts of the young warriors, and they were hoisted up, with cords fastened to the splints, towards the top of the lodge. Not a muscle of their features expressed fear or pain. Basil. Shocking! shocking! Brian. That must be very bad, indeed. Hunter. After this, other splints were run through their arms, thighs, and legs ; and on these were hung their shields, arms, and medicine bags. In this situation they were taunted, and turned round with poles till they fainted ; and when, on being let down again, they recovered, each of them had the little finger of his left hand chopped off on the skull of a buffalo. After this, they were hurried along between strong and fleet runners : this was called " the last race," round and round the Great Canoe, till the weight of their arms having pulled the splints from their bodies, they once more fainted, and in this state, apparently dead, they were left to themselves, to live or die, as the Great Spirit might determine. Y 16* 186 INDiAN SPEECHES. Austin. I should think that hardly any of them would ever come to life again. Hunter. Nor would they, under common circumstances ; but, when we consider that these young men had fasted for four days, and lost much blood in their tortures, there was not much danger of inflammation from their wounds, and their naturally strong constitutions enabled them to recover. All these tortures were willingly undertaken ; nor would any one of those who endured them, on any account whatever, have evaded them. , To propitiate the Great Spirit, and to stand well in the estimation of his own tribe, are the two highest objects in the mind of a Red Indian. Brian. I do not think that white men could endure so much. Hunter. We may at least learn, from these superstitious cruelties, to feel shame when we manifest loss of temper and want of patience, under our lighter trials. Surely, we should blush, with all our advantages, to be outdone by an unlettered Indian. The pale faces ought not to be severe in condemnation of red men, in the midst of all their super stition ; for they have been brought up in ignorance of better things. With them, revenge is virtue ; and the white man, instead of teaching them better, has taken advantage of their failings, setting them one against another, and rob bing them and oppressing them without mercy. Austin. I should like to be a friend to the red men. Hunter. We may all be friends to them, by encouraging in our hearts a desire to serve them, and by putting that desire into practice whenever we have the opportunity. I believe, that you had rather pray for a red man than cheat him of his lands, and would send him a Bible rather than a tomahawk. The time may come, when he will be better instructed, forsaking his wild superstitions, and embracing the truths of Christianity. Should you like to hear two or three speeches of the Red Indians ? Many of them, in their wild way, are very eloquent. ftustin. The very thing. That will just please me. SPECIMEN OF INDIAN ELOQUENCE. 187 Brian. Yes ; I shall like that very well. Basil. And I too. I shall fancy them dressed up in all their finery. Hunter. I will, then, first read to you a specimen of Indian eloquence. Logan, the celebrated Indian chief, who had long been a zealous partisan of the English, arid had often distinguished himself in their service, was taken pris oner, and brought before the General Assembly of Virginia, who hesitated whether he should be tried before a court martial, or at the criminal bar for high treason. Logan interrupted their deliberations, and stated to the assembly that they had no jurisdiction to try him ; that he owed no allegiance to the king of England, being an Indian chief, independent of every nation. In answer to their inquiries, as to his motives for taking up arms against the English, he is said thus to have addressed the assembly : "I appeal to any white man, to say if ever he entered Logan's cabin hungry, and he gave him not meat ; if ever he came cold and naked, and he clothed him not. During the course of the last long and bloody war, Logan remained idle in his cabin, an advocate for peace. Such was my love for the whites, that my countrymen pointed as they passed, and said, < Logan is the friend of white men.' I had even thought to have lived with you, but for the injuries of one man. Colonel Cresap, the last spring, in cold blood, and unprovoked, murdered all the relations of Logan, not even sparing my women and children. There runs not a drop of my blood in the veins of any living creature. This called on me for revenge. I have sought it : I have killed many : I have fully glutted my vengeance. For my coun try, I rejoice at the beams of peace : but do not harbour a thought that mine is-the joy of fear. Logan never felt fear: he will not turn oji his heel to save his life. Who is there to mourn for Loga^ Not one." This pathetic and affecting speech touched the sensibility of all who heard him. The General Assembly applauded nis noble sentiments, and immediately set him at liberty. 188 ADDRESS OF THE SENECA INDIANS. Every family in Virginia vied with each other which should entertain him the best, or show him the most respect ; arid he returned to his native country, loaded with presents and honours. ftustin. That is a famous speech, however. Brian. Poor Logan ! I am glad he was set at liberty. Basil. And so am I. Hunter. Here is an address of the Seneca Indians, to Governor Clinton, that I have in print. I will read it to you. " Father We feel that the hand of our God has long been heavy on his red children. For our sins, he has brought us low, and caused us to melt away before our white brothers, as snow before the fire. His ways are per fect ; he regardeth not the complexion of men. God is ter rible in judgment. All men ought to fear before him. He putteth down and buildeth up, and none can resist him. " Father The Lord of the whole earth is strong ; this is our confidence. He hath power to build up, as well as to put down. Will he keep his anger forever ? Will he pursue to destruction the workmanship of his own hands, and strike off a race of men from the earth, whom his care had so long preserved from so many perils ? " Father We thank you, that you feel anxious to do all you can for the perishing ruins of your red children. We hope, father, you will make a fence, strong and high, around us, that the wicked white men may not devour us at once, but let us live as long as we can. We are persuaded you will do this for us, because our field is laid waste and trodden down by every beast ; we are feeble, and cannot resist them. "Father We are persuaded you will do this, for the sake of our white brothers, lest God, who has appeared so strong in building up white men and putting down Indians, should turn his hand and visit our white brothers for their sins, and call them to an account for all the wrongs they have done them, and all the wrongs they have not prevented, ADDRESS OF THE SENECA INDIANS. 189 that it was in their power to prevent, to their poor red brothers, who have no helper." Brian. I like those speeches very much indeed. Hunter. The following is an address of the chiefs of the same people, the Seneca tribe. I have it, you see, in the same printed book. " The sachems, chiefs, and warriors of the Seneca nation, to the sachems and chiefs assembled about the great council fire of the state of New York. " Brothers As you are once more assembled in council, for the purpose of doing honour to yourselves and justice to your country, we, your brothers, the sachems, chiefs, and warriors of the Seneca nation, request you to open your ears, and give attention to our voice and wishes. " Brothers You will recollect the late contest between you and your father, the great king of England. This con test threw the inhabitants of this whole island into a great tumult and commotion, like a raging whirlwind, which tears up the trees, and tosses to and fro the leaves, so that no one knows from whence they come, or where they will fall. " Brothers This whirlwind was so directed, by the Great Spirit above, as to throw into our arms, two of your infant children, Jasper Parrish and Horatio Jones. We adopted them into our families, and made them our children. We loved them, arid nourished them. They lived with us many years. At length, the Great Spirit spoke to the whirlwind ; and it was still. A clear and uninterrupted sky appeared. The path of peace was opened, and the chain of friendship was once more made bright. Then those, our adopted children, left us to seek their relations. We wished them to remain among us, and promised, if they would return and live in our country, to give each of them a seat of land, for them and their children to sit down upon. "Brothers They have returned, and have for several years past been serviceable to us as interpreters. We still feel our hearts beat with affection for them, and now 190 SPEECH OF A WARRIOR. wish to fulfil the promise we made them, and to reward them for their services. We have, therefore, mado up our minds to give them a seat of two square miles of land, lying on the outlet of Lake Erie, about three miles below Black Rock. "Brothers We have now made known to you our minds. We expect, and earnestly request, that you will permit our friends to receive this our gift, and will make the same good to them, according to the laws and customs of your nation. " Brothers Why should you hesitate to make our minds easy, with regard to this our request ? To you it is but a little thing ; and have you not complied with the request, and confirmed the gift of our brothers the Oneidas, the Onondagas, and the Cayugas, to their interpreters ? and shall we ask, and not be heard ? Brothers We send you this our speech, to which we expect your answer before the breaking up of your great council fire." Austin. They seem to me to speak as well as white men do. How I should like to hear one of those speeches from a noble looking chief, with his robes and war-eagle plumes, holding in his hand his spear or his bow and arrow ! Hunter. I will now read you the speech of a warrior to a party of his tribe, who were with him among the whites, when his chief died. It has long been known to the public. " Do not grieve. Misfortunes will happen to the wisest and best of men. Death will come, and always comes out of season. It is the command of the Great Spirit, and. all nations and people must obey. What has passed, and can not be prevented, should not be grieved for. Be not dis couraged or displeased, then, that, in visiting your father here, you have lost your chief. A misfortune of this kind may never again befall you ; but this would have attended you, perhaps, at your own village. Five times have I visited this land, and never returned with sorrow or pain. Misfortunes do not flourish particularly in our path. They grow every where. What a misfortune for me, that I could SPEECH OF RED JACKET. 191 not have died this day, instead of the chief that lies before us ! The trifling loss my nation would have sustained in my death, would have been doubly paid for by the honours of my burial. They would have wiped off every thing like regret. Instead of being covered with a cloud of sor row, my warriors would have felt the sunshine of joy in their hearts. To me it would have bee'n a most glorious occurrence. Hereafter, when I die at home instead of a noble grave and a grand procession, the rolling music and the thundering cannon, with a flag waving at my head I shall be wrapped in a robe, an old robe, perhaps, and hoisted on a slender scaffold to the whistling winds, soon to be blown to the earth, my flesh to be devoured by the wolves, and my bones rattled on the plain by the wild beasts. " Chief of the soldiers Your labours have not been in vain. Your attention shall not be forgotten. My nation shall know the respect that is paid over the dead. When I return, I will echo the sound of your guns." Austin. Capital ! capital ! Hunter. The speech about to be given you must be the last. It is said to have been spoken by the chief called Red Jacket, in reply to a missionary, and has been printe^ in many books. "Friend and brother It was the will of the Great Spirit that we should meet together this day. He orders all things, and has given us a fine day for our council. He has taken his garment from before the sun, and caused it to shine with brightness upon us. Our eyes are opened, that we see clearly; our ears are unstopped, that we have been able to hear distinctly the words you have spoken. For all these favours we thank the Great Spirit, and him only. " Brother Listen to what we say. There was a time when our forefathers owned this great island. Their seats extended from the rising to the setting sun. The Great Spirit had made it for the use of Indians. He had created the buffalo, deer, and other animals, for food. He had 192 SPEECH OF RED JACKET. made the bear and the beaver. Their skins served us for clothing. He had scattered them on the earth, and taught us how to take them. He had caused the earth to produce corn for bread. All this he had done for his red children, because he loved them. But an evil day came upon us. Your forefathers crossed the great water, and landed on this island. Their numbers were small. They found friends, and not enemies. They told us they fled from their own country for fear of wicked men, and had come here to enjoy their religion. They asked for a small seat. We took pity on them, and granted their request; and they sat down among us. We gave them corn and meat ; they gave us poison in return. " The white people had now found our country. Tidings were carried back, and more came among us. Yet we did not fear them. We took them to be friends. They called us brothers. We believed them, and gave them a larger seat. At length, their numbers had greatly increased. They wanted more land. They wanted our country. Our eyes were opened, and our minds became uneasy. Wars took place. Indians were hired to fight against Indians, and many of our people were destroyed. They also brought strong liquor among us. It was strong and powerful, and has slain thou sands. " Brother Our seats were once large, and yours were small. You have now become a great people and we have scarcely a place left to spread our blankets. You have got our country, but are not satisfied ; you want to force your religion among us. "Brother Continue to listen. You say, that you are sent to instruct us how to worship the Great Spirit agreea bly to his mind ; and, if we do not take hold of the religion which you white people teach, we shall be unhappy here after. You say that you are right, and we are lost. How do you know this to be true ? We understand that your religion is written in a book. If it was intended for us as well as you why has not the Great Spirit given to us, and SPEECH OF RED JACKET. 193 not only to us, but why did he not give to our forefathers, the knowledge of that book, with the means of understand ing it rightly ? We only know what you tell us about it. How shall we know when to believe, being so often deceived by the white people ? "Brother You say, there is but one way to worship and serve the Great Spirit. If there is but one religion, why do you white people differ so much about it ? Why not all agreed, as you can all read the book ? " Brother We do not understand these things. We are told that your religion was given to your forefathers, and has been handed down from father to son. We also have a religion, which was given to our forefathers, and was handed down to their children. We worship in that way. It teaches us to be thankful for all the favours we receive, to love each other, and to be united. We never quarrel about religion. " Brother The Great Spirit made us all ; but he has made a great difference between his w^hite and red children. He has given us different complexions and dif ferent customs. To you he has given the arts. To these he has not opened our eyes. We know these things to be true. Since he "has made so great a difference between us in other things, why may we not conclude that he has given us a different religion, according to our understanding? The Great Spirit does right : he knows what is best for his chil dren. We are satisfied. " Brother We do not wish to destroy your religion, or vake it from you. We only wish to enjoy our own. " Brother We are told that you have been preaching to the white people in this place. These people are our neigh bours. We are acquainted with them. We will wait a little while, and see what effect your preaching has upon them . If we find it does them good, makes them honest, and less disposed to. cheat Indians ; we will then consider again of what you have said. "Brother You have now heard our answer to your Z 17 194 PROPER MOTIVES. talk. This is all we have to say at present. As we are going to part, we will come and take you by the hand, and hope the Great Spirit will protect you in your journey, and return you safe to your friends." flustin. I could not have believed that a Red Indian could have made such a speech. Hunter. You see by this speech, how deep an impression the bad conduct of the whites had made on the minds of the Indians ; and yet, with all this, there is a spirit of for bearance and uprightness in the remarks of Red Jacket that we cannot but respect. The next time you visit me, I shall have a great deal to tell you about braves, and war parties, and encampments, and other things. In th'j mean time, think kindly of red men, and learn what you can from them, showing as much patience, courage, and untiring perseverance in the discharge of your duties, as they do in the observance of their superstitions. Christians ought not to come behind heathens in any good quality, but to go before them, setting them an example ; for, where much is given, much will be required. The higher the motive, the better should be the act. Let our motive be the good of our kind, and the glory of the Redeemer. Had this been the end and object of all who have visited North America, the red man would not have had the reasons he now has to look on white men with suspicion arid hatred, and to regard them with desire of revenge. A WAR PARTY. CHAPTER XIV. Poisoned arrows Poison making The deadly power of the poison Council of war Enlisting Preparation for battle Indian mode f fighting A war party A night march A surprise A village attacked 'The onset The resistance The retreat False alarms Camanchee war party Their chief in full dress, on his war horse The wounded Crow warriors The mystery man His useless at tempts to restore the wounded Particulars of the death of Oceola, the Seminole chief- The death of a Christian. HE .day after that on which Austin and his brothers heard from the hunter the account of the mys tery lodge, and the sufferings of the young Mandans before they were thought equal to engage in a war party, two or three little acci dents occurred. In the first place, Austin, in making a new bow, cut a deep gash in his fin ger: and, in the next, Brian and Basil, in scrambling among the hedges in quest of straight twigs for arrows, met 195 196 POISONED ARROWS. with their mishaps ; for Brian got a thorn in his thumb, while Basil had a roll down the bank into a dry ditch. It is always a good sign in young people,, when they put into practice any real or supposed good quality of which they hear or read. The patience and endurance of the young Mandans had called forth high commendations from Austin, and it was evident, in the affair of the cut finger, that he made a struggle, and a successful one too, in con trolling his feelings. With an air of resolution, he wrapped the end of his pocket handkerchief tightly round the wound, and passed off the occurrence as a matter of no moment. Not a word escaped little Basil when he rolled into the ditch ; nor Did Brian utter a single " oh !" when the thorn was extracted from his thumb. Then again, besides these acts of heroism, some very creditable speeches were made by the three brothers, espe cially by Austin, who, in the character of a Red Indian, feelingly lamented his wrongs in being driven from the hunting grounds of his fathers, and very freely and indig nantly condemned the white man's oppression and cruelty. " You may depend upon it," said Austin, after some conversation with Brian and Basil, on the subject of the young Mandans, " that the next time we see the hunter, we shall hear something about the way in which red men go to war. The sham fight, and the preparation of the young warriors, will be followed by some account of their battles." In this shrewd supposition he was quite correct ; for, when they next visited the cottage, the hunter proposed to speak a little about councils, and encampments, and alarms, and surprises, and attacks. The conversation was carried on in the following manner. JLustin. How do the Indians poison their arrows ? Hunter. By dipping the point of the arrow head into the poison prepared. The head of the arrow, as I told you, is put on very slightly, so that it remains in the wound when the arrow is withdrawn. INDIAN MODE OF WARFARE. 197 Brian. Where do they get their poison? What is it made of? Hunter. No doubt there is some difference in the man ner of preparing poison among the different tribes. But, usually, it is, I believe, composed of deadly vegetable sub stances, slowly boiled together, sometimes mingled with the mortal poison of snakes and ants. This is prepared with great care. Its strength is usually tried on a lizard, or some other cold-blooded, slow-dying animal. It is rapid in its effects; for, if a fowl be wounded with a poisoned wea pon, it dies in a few minutes ; a cat dies in five minutes ; a bison, in five or six ; and a horse, in ten. Jaguars anct deer live but a short time after they are thus wounded. If, then, horses and bisons are so soon destroyed by the poison, no wonder that men should be unable to endure its fatal effects. Before war is determined on among the Indians, a council is held with great solemnity. The chiefs, and braves, and medicine men are assembled. Then the enlist ing takes place, which I have already described ; the war dance is engaged in ; and the weapons are examined and repaired. The chief, arrayed in full dress, leads on his band. They march with silence and rapidity, and encamp with great caution, appointing sentinels in every necessary direction. Thus, lurking, skulking, and marching, they, reach the place of their destination. Another war council is held, to decide on the mode of attack ; and then, with rifles, war clubs, scalping knives, and bows and poisoned arrows, they fall upon their unsuspecting foes. Brian. It is very sad to fight with such weapons as poisoned arrows. Hunter. It is sad to fight with any kind of weapons ; but, when once anger enters the heart, and the desire to shed blood is called forth, no mode is thought too cruel that will assist in obtaining a victory. The continual warfare that is being carried on between Indian tribes, must be afflictive to every humane and Christian spirit. None but the God of peace can destroy the love of war in the hearts 198 A WAR PARTY. of either red or white men. Indians fight in a way very different to civilized people ; for they depend more on cun ning, stratagem, and surprise, than on skill and courage. Almost all their attacks are made under cover of night, or when least expected. A war party will frequently go great distances, to fall upon a village or encampment on a quarter most accessible. To effect their object, they will hide for any length of time in the forest, sleep in the long grass, lurk in the ravine, and skulk at nightfall around the place to be attacked. Austin. Did you ever go out with the Indians to fight ? Hunter, Yes. For some time I was treated very hospi tably among the Crows, near the Rocky Mountains ; and as they had determined to go on one of their war parties, which I could not prevent, I resolved to go along with them, to watch their way of proceeding. ftustin. Do tell us all about it. Hunter. It was a thoughtless and foolish affair, when I was young and rash ; but I wished to be a spectator of all their customs. It was, as I said, one of those foolish under takings into which the ardour of my disposition led me, and for which I was very near paying the price of my life. A council was held, wherein it was decided to send a strong -war party on foot to surprise a Blackfoot village. Every stratagem had been used to lull the enemy into security. Brian. Ay ; that is just like the Indians. Hunter. The red pipe was sent through the tribe, for the warriors to smoke with it, much after the manner of the Sioux ; the red post was struck, and the braves and atten dants painted their faces. When the plan of attack was agreed on, every warrior saw to his weapons ; neither bow nor arrow, war club nor scalping knife, was left unexam- ined. There was an earnestness in their preparation, as though they were all animated with one spirit ; a high- wrought energy was visible through the whole tribe. Austin. Ay ; I will be bound for it they would fight like lions. DESPERATE RESISTANCE. 199 Hunter. It was some time after sundown, that we left the village at a quick pace. Runners were sent out in all directions, to give notice of an enemy. We hastened along a deep valley, rounded the base of a bluff, and entered the skirt of a forest, following each other in files beneath the shadowy branches. We then passed through some deep grass, and stole silently along several defiles and ravines. The nearer we drew to the Blackfoot village, the more silently and stealthily we proceeded. Like the panther, creeping with noiseless feet on his prey, we stole along the intricate pathways of the prairie bottoms, the forest, the skirt of the river, and the hills and bluffs. At last we made a halt, just as the moon emerged from behind a cloud. Austin. Then there was terrible work, I dare say. Hunter. It was past midnight, and the Blackfoot village was wrapped in slumber. The Crow warriors dispersed themselves, to attack the village at the same instant from different quarters. The leader had on his full dress, his medicine bag, and his head-dress of war-eagle plumes. All was hushed in silence, nearly equal to that of the grave ; when suddenly the shrill war-whistle of the Crow chief rung through the Blackfoot lodges, and the wild war-whoop burst at once from a hundred throats. The chief was in the thickest of the fight. There was no pity for youth or age ; the war club spared not, and the tomahawk was merciless. Yelling like fiends, the Crow warriors fled from hut to hut, from victim to victim. Neither women nor children were spared. Brian. Dreadful ! dreadful ! Hunter. Though taken thus by surprise, the Blackfoot braves, in a little time,began to collect together,clutching their weapons firmly, and rushing on their enemies, determined to avenge their slaughtered friends. The panic into which they had been thrown subsided, and like men accustomed to danger, they stood not only in self-defence, but attacked their foes with fury. 200 THE CROW AND BLACKFOOT INDIANS. Austin. I wonder that every one in the Blackfoot vil lage was not killed. ' Hunter. In civilized life, this would very likely have been the case ; but in a savage state, men from their child hood are trained up to peril. They may lie down to slumber on their couches of skins, but their weapons are near at hand ; and though it be the midnight hour when an attack is made on them, and though, awoke by the con fusion, they hear nothing but the war-cry of their enemy, they spring to their feet, snatch up their arms, and rush on to meet their foes. It was thus with the Blackfoot braves. Hand to hand, and foot to foot, they met their assailants : brave was opposed to brave ; and the horrid clash of the War club and the murderous death-grapple succeeded each other. Even if I could describe the horrors of such a scene, it would not be right to do so. As I was gazing on the conflict, I suddenly received a blow that struck me bleeding to the ground. You may see the scar on my temple still. The confusion was at its height, or my scalp would have been taken. Brian. How did you get away ? Hunter. Stunned as I was, I recovered my senses before a retreat took place, and was just able to effect my escape. The Crows slaughtered many of their enemies; but the Blackfoot warriors and braves were at last too strong for them. Then was heard the shrill whistle that sounded a retreat. With a dozen scalps in their possession, the Crows sought the shelter of the forest, and afterwards regained their own village. ftustin. Are the Crow tribe, or the Blackfoot tribe the strongest ? Hunter. The Crow Indians, as I told you, are taller and more elegant men than the Blackfeet ; but the latter have broader chests and shoulders. The Blackfeet, some think, take their name from the circumstance of their wearing black, or very dark brown leggings and mocassins. Whether, as a people, the Crows or the Blackfeet are the strongest, A CAMANCHEE CHIEF. 201 there is a diversity of opinion. The Blackfeet consist of four kinds, or families, of Indians the Blood, the Blackfoot, the Peagan, and the Small Robes. They are almost always at war with the Crows. Austin. What battling there must be among them ! Hunter. Their war parties are very numerous, and their encampments are very large : and, whether seen in the day, in the midst of their lodges ; or at night, wrapped in their robes, with their arms in their hands, ready to leap up if attacked by an enemy ; they form a striking spectacle. Sometimes, in a night encampment, a false alarm takes place. A prowling bear, or. a strayed horse, is taken for a foe ; and sometimes a real alarm, occasioned by spies crawling on their hands and knees up to their very encamp ment, to ascertain their strength. On these occasions, the shrill whistle is heard, every man springs up armed, and rushes forth, ready to resist his assailing enemy. I have seen war parties among the Crows and Blackfeet, the Man- dans and Sioux, the Shawanees, Poncas, Pawnees, and Sem- inoles. But a Camanchee war party, mounted on wild horses, with their shields, bows, and lances, which I once witnessed, was the most imposing spectacle of the kind 1 ever saw. The chief was mounted on a beautiful war horse, wild as the winds, and yet he appeared to manage him with ease. He was in full dress, and seemed to have as much fire in his disposition as the chafed animal on which he rode. In his bridle hand, he clutched his bow and seve ral arrows ; with his other hand, he wielded his long lance ; while his quiver and shield were slung at his back, and his rifle across his thigh. Austin. I can see him now. But what colour was his war horse ? Hunter. Black as a raven ; but the white foam lay in thick flakes on his neck and breast, for his rider at every few paces stuck the sharp rowels of his Spanish spurs into his sides. He had a long flowing mane and tail, and his full and fiery eyes seemed ready to start out of his head The 2 A 202 THE MYSTERY MAN. whole Camanchee band seemed ready to rush into any danger. At one time, they were flying over the prairie in single file ; and at another, drawn up all abreast of each other. The Camanchees and the Osages used to have cruel battles one with another. The Mandans and the Riccarees, too, were relentless enemies. Brian. And the Sacs and Foxes were great fighters, for Black Hawk was a famous fellow. Hunter. Yes, he was. I have never told you, I believe, how the medicine man, or mystery man, conducts himself when called in to a wounded warrior. Austin. Not a word of it. Please to tell us every particular. Hunter. In some cases cures are certainly performed ; in others, the wounded get well of themselves : but, in most instances, the mystery man is a mere juggler. Basil. Now we shall hear of the mystery man. Hunter. The Crow war party that I joined, brought away two of their wounded warriors when they retreated from the Blackfoot village, but there seemed to me to be no hope of saving their lives. However, a mystery man was called on to use his skill. Austin. Ay; I want to know how the mystery man cures his patients. Hunter. If ever you should require a doctor, I hope you will have one more skilful than the mystery man that I am going to describe. The wounded warriors were in ex tremity, and I thought that one of them was dying before the mystery man made his appearance ; but you shall hear. The wounded men lay groaning on the ground, with Indians round them, who kept moaning even louder than they did ; when all at once, a scuffle of feet, and a noise like that of a low rattle, were heard. Austin. The mystery man was coming, I suppose. Hunter. He was ; and a death-like silence was instantly preserved by all the attendant Indians. On came the mys tery man, covered over with the shaggy hide of a yellow THE CHIEF OCEOLA. 203 bear, so that, had it not been that his mocassins, leggings, and hands were visible, you might have supposed a real bear was walking upright, with a spear in one paw, and a rattle formed like a tambourine in the other. Basil. He could never cure the dying man with his tambourine. Hunter. From the yellow bear-skin hung a profusion of smaller skins, such as those of different kinds of snakes^ toads, frogs, and bats ; with hoofs of animals, beaks and tails of birds, and scraps and fragments of other things ; a complete bundle of odds and ends. The medicine man came into the circle, bending his knees, crouching, sliding one foot after the other along the ground, and now and then leaping and grunting. You could not see his face, for the yellow bear-head skin covered it, and the paws dangled before him. He shuffled round and round the wounded men, shaking his rattle, and making all kinds of odd noises ; he then stopped to turn them over. dustin. He had need of all his medicine. Hunter. Hardly had he been present more than a minute, before one of the men died ; and, in ten minutes more his companion breathed his last. The medicine man turned them over, shook his rattle over them, howled, groaned, and grunted ; but it would not do, the men were dead, and all his mummery would not bring them back to life again ; so, after a few antics of various kinds, he shuffled off with himself, shaking his rattle, and howling and groaning louder than ever. You may remember, that I told you of the death of Oceola, the Seminole chief: he who struck his dagger through the treaty that was to sign away the hunting grounds of his tribe, in exchange for distant lands. Austin. Yes. You said that he dashed his dagger not only through the contract, but also through the table on which it lay. Brian, And you told us that he was taken prisoner by treachery, and died in captivity. Hunter. Now I will tell you the particulars of his 204 DEATH OF OCEOLA. death; for I only said before, that he died pillowed on the faithful bosom of his wife. He had his two wives with him when he died, but one was his favourite. ftustin. Please to let us know every thing about him. Hunter. Finding himself at the point of death, he made signs that the chiefs and officers might be asssembled, and his wishes were immediately complied with. The next thing he desired was, that his war dress, that dress in which he had so often led his tribe to victory, might be brought to him. His wife waited obediently upon him, and his war dress was placed before him. Basil. What could he want with his war dress when he was going to die ? Austin. Wait a little, Basil, and you will hear all about it, 1 dare say. Hunter. It was an affecting sight, to see him get up from his bed on the floor, once more to dress himself as a chief of his tribe, just as if he was about to head an expedition against the whites. Well, he put on his rich mocassins, his leggings adorned with scalp-locks, his shirt, and his ornamental belt of war. Nor did he forget the pouch that carried his bullets, the horn that held his powder, nor the knife with which he had taken so many scalps. Brian. How very strange, for a dying man to dres's himself in that way. Hunter. In ail this he was as calm and as steady as though about to hunt in the woods with his tribe. He then made signs, while sitting up in his bed, that his red paint should be given him, and his looking glass held up, that he might paint his face. Austin. And did he paint his face himself? Hunter. Only one half of it; after which his throat, neck, wrists, and the backs of his hands were made as red as vermilion would make them. The very handle of his knife was coloured over in the same way. Basil. What did he paint his hands and his knife handle for? DEATH OF A CHRISTIAN. 205 Hunter. Because it was the custom of his tribe, and of his fathers before him, to paint themselves and their weap ons red, whenever they took an oath of destruction to their enemies. Oceola did it, no doubt, that he might die like a chief of his tribe ; that he might show those around him, that even in death, he did not forget that he was a Seminole warrior. In that awful hour he put on his splen did turban with its three ostrich feathers, and then, being wearied with the effort he had made, he laid down for a little space to recover his breath and his strength. Austin. How weak he must have been ! Hunter. In a short time he rose up again, sitting in his full dress like the leader of a warlike tribe, and calmly and smilingly extended his hand to the chiefs and officers, to his wives and his children. But this, his last effort, exhausted his remaining strength. He beckoned his wives to lower him^down on the bed, calmly drew his scalping knife from its sheath under his war-belt, where it had been placed, and grasped it with firmness and dignity. With his hands crossed on his manly breast, and with a smile on his face, he breathed his last. Thus passed away the spirit of Oceola. Austin. Poor Oceola ! He died like a chief, at last. Hunter. He did : and, very likely, when he grasped his scalping knife, before his last breath forsook him, some glow ing vision of successful combat was before him. In the pride of his heart, perhaps, he was leading on his braves to mingle in the clash of battle, and the death-grapple with his enemies. But is this a fit state of mind for a man to die in ? Much as we may admire the steady firmness and un subdued courage of an Indian warrior in death, emotions of pride and highmindedness, and thoughts of bloodshed and victory, are most unsuitable to a dying hour. Humility, forgiveness, repentance, hope, faith, peace, and joy, are right in such a season ; arid the time will no doubt come, when Indians, taught better by the gospel, will think so as well as ourselves. With Christian hopes before us, let us 18 200 DEATH OF A CHRISTIAN. prepare to die like Christians. " Let me die the death of the righteous, and let my last end be like his!" Numb, xxiii. 10. "Mark the perfect man, and behold the upright : for the end of that man is peace," Psa. xxxvii. 37. " Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil : for thou art with me ; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me," Psa. xxiii. 4. " Our Saviour Jesus Christ hath abolished death and brought life and immor tality to light through the gospel/' 2 Tim. i. 10. " Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord/' Rev. xiv. 13. MOUNTED CHIEF. t CHAPTER XV. A treaty of peace The tomahawk buried Pipe of peace dance Assinneboin chief Tribes who shave their heads Turning in the toes in walking Names of women Different modes of building lodges Buffalo hunting in wolves' skins Begging horses Medi cine rock Hatching thunder Captain Smith saved by a chiefs daughter Horned frogs Mosquitoes Salt water brooks. T was now the time when the holi days of the three brothers were draw ing to a close ; and this circumstance rendered them the more anxious to secure one or two more visits to the cottage, before they settled down in right earnest to their books. Brian and Basil talked much about poisoned arrows, and the mystery man : but Austin's mind was too much occupied 207 208 RECAPITULATION. with the Camanchee chief on his black war-horse, arid the death of the Seminole chief Oceola, to think much of any thing else. He thought there was something very noble in the valour of the chief leading on his tribe to conquest ; and something almost sublime in a warrior dressing himself up in his war-dress to die. Like many other young people of ardent dispositions, he seemed to forget, that when a victory is en joyed, a defeat must be endured ; and that before any one can rejoice in taking a scalp, some one must be rendered misera ble by losing it. The remarks of the hunter respecting the death of a true Christian, had not been made altogether in vain ; yet still he dwelt on the image of Oceola grasping his scalping knife, crossing his hands over his breast, and dying with a smile on his countenance. On their next walk to the cottage, the way was beguiled by Austin endeavouring to call to mind all that had been told them on their last visit ; and, to do him justice, he ac quitted himself uncommonly well. It is true, that now and then his brothers refreshed his memory on some points which had escaped him ; but, on the whole, his account was full, connected, and clear. "And what must I tell you now?" said the hunter, as soon as he and the young people had exchanged saluta tions. "Do you not know enough about the Red Indians ?" To this inquiry, Brian replied that what they had heard had only increased their curiosity to hear more. " Well ; let me consider," said the hunter. " I have told you about the different tribes of the Red Indians, and where many of them reside. You have heard about their religion, languages, manners, and customs ; their villages, wigwams, food, dress, arms, and musical instruments. I have described to you the fur trade ; and dwelt on the scenery of North America, the mountains, rivers, lakes, prairies, and many remarkable places. I have related the adventures of Black Hawk and Nikkanochee, and read to you the speeches of several chiefs. And, besides these things, you have had a tolerably full account of buffaloes, PIPE OF PEACE DANCE. 209 bears, wild horses, wolves, deer, and other animals, with the manner of hunting them ; as well as a relation of Indian amusements, dances, sham fights, war parties, encampments, alarms, attacks, scalping, and retreats. Let me now, then, dwell a little on the Red Indian way of con cluding a treaty of peace, and on a few other matters ; after which, 1 will conclude with the best account I can give you, of what the missionaries have done among the different tribes." Austin. I shall be very sorry when you have told us all. Brian. And so shall I : for it is so pleasant to come here, and listen to what you tell us. Hunter. Oh, we shall always find something to talk of when you come, no doubt. After a battle has been fought, the scalp dance, which has already been described, is usually performed, the women holding up the scalps which have been taken. Basil. I do not like that scalp dance at all. Hunter. When it is agreed between hostile tribes that a treaty of peace shall be made, the chiefs and medicine men of the adverse tribes meet together, and the calumet, or peace pipe, ornamented with eagle quills, being produced, every one smokes a few whiffs through it. It is then under stood by them that the tomahawk is to be buried ; which means the same thing as when we say, the sword of war shall be put in its scabbard. The pipe of peace dance is then performed by the warriors, to the beat of the Indian drum and rattle, every warrior holding his pipe in his hand. Brian. That pipe of peace dance is a capital dance, for then bloodshed is at an end. Hunter. Unfortunately, war is apt soon to break out again, and then the buried tomahawk becomes as busy as ever. Austin. Well, I do like the Red Indians, in spite of all their faults ; they have been used cruelly by the whites 2B 18* 210 SPLENDOUR OF THE CHIEFS. Hunter. As a general remark, those Indians who have had least to do with civilized life are the most worthy of regard. Such as live near white men, or such as are frequently visited by them, seem to learn quickly the vices of others, without giving up their own. To observe the real character of red men, it is necessary to trace the turn ings and windings of the Yellow Stone River, or the yet more remote sinuosities of the Upper Missouri. The nearer the United States, the more servile is the Indian character ; and the nearer the Rocky Mountains, the more independent and open-hearted. Austin. If I ever go among the red men, the Yellow Stone River, or the Upper Missouri, will be the place for me. Hunter. Many of the chiefs of the tribes near the Rocky Mountains may be said to live in a state of splendour. They have the pure air of heaven around them, and rivers abounding in fish. The prairie yields them buffaloes in plenty ; and, as for their lodges and dress, some of them may be called sumptuous. Sometimes, twenty or thirty buffalo skins, beautifully dressed, are joined together to form a covering for a lodge ; and their robes and different articles of apparel are so rich with ermine, the nails and claws of birds and animals, war-eagle plumes, and embroi dery of highly coloured porcupine .quills, that a monarch in his coronation robes is scarcely a spectacle more im posing. Austin. Ay, I remember the dress of Mah-to-toh-pa, " the four bears," his buffalo robe, his porcupine quilled leggings, his embroidered buck-skin moccassins, his otter necklace, his buffalo horns, and his splendid head dress of war-eagle plumes. Hunter. In a state of war, it is the delight of a chief to leap on the back of his fiery steed, decorated as the leader of his tribe, and armed with his glittering lance and unerring bow, to lead on his band to victory. In the chase, he is as ardent as in the battle ; smiling at danger, he AN ASSINNEBOIN CHIEF. 211 plunges, on his flying . steed, among a thousand buffaloes, launching his fatal shafts with deadly effect. "Thus has the Indian of the far west lived, and thus is he living still. But the trader, and the gin bottle, and the carbine, and the white man are on his track ; and, like his red brethren who once dwelt east of the Mississippi, he must fall back yet farther, and gradually decline before the approach of civilization. Austin. It is a very strange thing that white men will not let red men alone. What right have they to cheat them of their hunting grounds ? Hunter. I will relate to you an account, that appeared some time ago in most of the newspapers, of an Assinne- boin chief, who, though he was respected by his tribe before he went among the whites, had very little respect paid to him afterwards. Brian. I hope it is a long account. Hunter. Not very long : but you shall hear. " In order to assist the officers of the Indian department, in their arduous duty of persuading remote tribes to quit their lands, it has. been found advisable to incur the expense of inviting one or two of their chiefs three thousand or four thousand miles to Washington, in order that they should see with their own eyes, and report to their tribes, the irre sistible power of the nation with which they are arguing. This speculation has, it is said in all instances, more or less effected its object. For the reasons and for the objects we have stated, it was deemed advisable that a certain chief should be invited from* his remote country to Washington; and accordingly, in due time, he appeared there." Austin. Three or four thousand miles ! What a distance for him to go ! Hunter. " After the troops had been made to manoguvre before him ; after thundering volleys of artillery had almost deafened him ; and after every department had dis played to him all that was likely to add to the terror and astonishment he had already experienced, the president, in 212 AN ASSINNEBOIN CHIEF. lieu of the Indian's clothes, presented him with a colonel's uniform ; in which, and with many other presents, the bewildered chief took his departure." Brian. He would hardly know how to walk in a colonel's uniform. Hunter. " In a pair of white kid gloves ; tight blue coat, with gilt buttons, gold epaulettes, and red sash ; cloth trowsers with straps ; high-heeled boots ; cocked hat, and scarlet feather ; with a cigar in his mouth, a green umbrella in one hand, and a yellow fan in the other ; and with the neck of a whiskey bottle protruding out of each of the two tail-pockets of his regimental coat ; this f monkey that had seen the world' suddenly appeared before the chiefs and warriors of his tribe ; and as he stood before them straight as a ramrod, in a high state of perspiration, caused by the tight ness of his finery, while the cool fresh air of heaven blew over the naked, unrestrained limbs of the spectators, it might, perhaps not unjustly, be said of the costumes, Which is the savage ?' In return for the presents he had received, and with a desire to impart as much real information as possible to his tribe, the poor jaded traveller undertook to de liver to them a course of lectures, in which he graphically described all that he had witnessed." Austin. An Indian in white kid gloves, blue coat high- heeled boots, and cocked hat and feather ! Why his tribe would all laugh at him in spite of his lectures. Hunter. " For a while he was listened to with attention ; but as soon as the minds of his audience had received as much as they could hold, they began to disbelieve him. Nothing daunted, however, the traveller still proceeded." ftustin. I thought they would laugh at him. Hunter. "He told them about wigwams, in which a thousand people could at one time pray to the Great Spirit ; of other wigwams, five stories high, built in lines, facing each other, and extending over an enormous space : he told them of war canoes that would hold twelve hundred warriors." HEAD-DRESS OF THE CHIEFS 213 Austin. They would be sure never to believe him. Hunter. " Such tales, to the Indian mind, seemed an insult to common sense. For some time he was treated merely with ridicule and contempt ; but, when, resolutely continuing to recount his adventures, he told them that he had seen white people, who, by attaching a great ball to a canoe, could rise in it into the clouds, and travel through the heavens, the medicine, mystery, or learned men of his tribe pronounced him to be an imposter ; and the multitude vociferously declaring that he was too great a liar to live, a young warrior, in a paroxysm of anger, levelled a rifle at his head, and blew his brains out/' Austin. Well, I am very sorry ! It was very silly to be dressed up in that way ; but they ought not to have killed him, for he told them the truth, after all. Brian. I could never have thought that an Indian chief would have dressed himself in a blue coat and gilt buttons. Basil. And, then, the fan and green umbrella ! Austin. Ay, and the whiskey bottles sticking out of his tail-pockets. He would look a little different to Mah- to-toh-pa. Hunter. I have frequently spoken of the splendid head dress of the chiefs of some tribes. Among the Mandans, and you know Mah-to-toh-pa was a Mandan, they would not part with one of their head-dresses of war-eagle plumes at a less price than two horses. The Konzas, Osages, Pawnees, Sacs, Foxes, and loways shave their heads ; but all the rest, or at least as far as I know of the Indian tribes, wear long hair. Brian. Yes ; we remember the Crows, with their hair sweeping the ground. Hunter. Did I tell you, that some of the tribes glue other hair to their own to make it long, as it is considered so ornamental? Basil. I do not remember that you told us that. Hunter. There are a few other things respecting the Indians that I wish to mention, before I tell you what the 214 MANNER OF WALKING. missionaries have done among them. In civilized countries, people turn out their toes in walking ; but this is not the case among the Red ftdians. When the toes are turned out, either in walking or running, the whole weight of the body falls sadly too much on the great toe of the foot that is behind, and it is mainly owing to this circumstance, that so many have a deformity at the joint of the great toe : when the foot is turned in, the weight of the body is thrown equally on all the toes, and the deformity of the great toe joint is avoided. Austin. What, do the Red Indians know better how to walk than we do ! If theirs is the best way to walk, why do not we all walk so ? Hunter. I suppose, because it is not so elegant in appear ance to walk so. - But many things are done by civilized people on account of fashion. Hundreds and hundreds of females shorten their lives by tight lacing ; but the Red Indians do not commit such folly. Brian. There is something to be learned from Red Indians, after all. Hunter. I told you the Crow Indians were some of the finest men of all the Indians ; but I rather think that the Osages are the tallest. Most of them are six feet high, and some of them nearly seven. Austin. They must be fine men, indeed ! Do they live near the Crows ? Hunter. Oh no ; at least a thousand miles from them. They are much nearer the Konzas and the Pawnee Picts. They inhabit a part that is six or seven hundred miles nearer the Rocky mountains than the river Mississippi. I ibrget, when I gave you the names of several remarkable men among'the tribes, whether I gave the names of any of the women. The wife of the chief of the Ponca tribe was called Hee-lah-dee, " the pure fountain ;" and one of the wives of his son went by the name Mong-shong-sha, " the bending willow." BORROWING HORSES. 215 Basil. Those are very good names indeed. The Pure Fountain, and the Bending Willow. Hunter. There was a modest-looking girl among the Crows, named Seet-se-be-a, "the mid-day sun;" and another among the Shawnees, called Ka-te-quaw, " the female eagle." You must remember that the Red Indians build their lodges in different ways : the Mandan and Ric- caree mode is to cover their lodges with earth ; the Chippe- ways roof theirs with birch bark ; the Pawnees thatch theirs with prairie grass ; and the Camanchees, Crows, and Black- feet cover their lodges with buffalo skins. Austin. Yes ; we will remember that. Hunter. Did I tell you, that sometimes the Indians dressed themselves in wolves' skins, and crept along on their hands and knees, with their rifles, till they could get sufficiently near the buffaloes to fire at them ? Brian. 1 do not remember that. How cunning ! Hunter. There is a custom among the Sacs and Foxes that I do not think I spoke of. The Sacs are better provided with horses than the Foxes; and so, when the latter go to war and want horses, they go to the Sacs and beg them. After a time, they sit round in a circle, and take up their pipes to smoke, seemingly quite at their ease ; and, while they are whiffing away, the young men of the Sacs ride round and round the circle, every now and then cutting at the shoulders of the Foxes with their whips, making the blood start forth. After keeping up this strange custom for some time, the young Sacs dismount, and present their horses to those they have been flogging. Austin. What a curious custom ! I should not much like to be flogged in that manner. Brian. Nor I either. Wliat backs they must have, after being flogged in that way ! Hunter. There is a certain rock which the Camanchees always visit when they go to war. Putting their horses at full speed, they shoot their best arrows at this rock, which they consider great medicine. If they did not go through 216 ANECDOTE OF CAPTAIN SMITH. this long established custom, there would be no confidence among them ; but, when they have thus sacrificed their best arrows to the rock, their hope and confidence are strong. Austin. I should have thought they would have wanted their best arrows to fight with. Hunter. The Sioux have a strange notion about thunder ; they say that the thunder is hatched by a small bird, not much bigger than the humming bird. There is, in the Couteau des Prairies, a place called " the nest of the thunder ;" and, in the small bushes there, they will have it that this little bird sits upon its eggs till the long claps of thunder come forth. Strange as this tradition is, there would be no use in denying it ; for the superstition of the Red Indian is too strong to be easily done away with. The same people, before they go on a buffalo hunt, usually pay a visit to a spot where the form of a buffalo is cut out on the prairie. This figure is great medicine; and the hunt is sure to be more prosperous, in their opinion, after it has been visited. Austin. I do hope that we shall forget none of these curious things. Hunter. Did I tell you, how Captain Smith, an English officer, was saved from a cruel death by a chief's daughter ? Austin. Not a word about it. Basil I have never heard you say anything about it. Brian. Nor I. Please to let us hear the account. Hunter. Captain Smith, as the narrative is told, was taken prisoner by an Indian chief, named Opechancanough, who having tied him to a tree was about to despatch him, when Captain Smith by producing a pocket compass and explaining to him its wonderful properties was able to avert the stroke which threatened his life. He was afterwards con ducted to the king Pow-ha-tan ; and a council was held, in which, after many speeches being made by the chiefs, it was finally determined that he should be put to death. Basil. How did they mean to kill him ? ANECDOTE OF CAPTAIN SMITH 217 CAPTAIN SMITH. Hunter. By striking his head with their war clubs, after they had made him lay it down on a big stone. There seemed to be no hope of escape for him. He was brought to the place of execution, and commanded to lay his head on the stone ; then two executioners, with their huge, heavy painted war clubs, stood over him, waiting for the signal to be given by Povv-ha-tan to strike the fatal blow. Already had their brawny arms lifted up their massy clubs, and in a few moments Captain Smith would have been no more ; when Pocahontas, the favourite daughter of the chief, a girl of about twelve or thirteen years of age, rushed forward and threw her arms round the captain's head, to protect him from the coming blow. This so effected the chief, Pow-ha-tan, that he directly com manded the executioners to retire, and granted to his daugh ter the captain's life. Basil. Capital ! capital ! I like that chief's daughter very much. Austin. What a narrow escape it was ! Only to think of war clubs being lifted up to kill him ! Hunter. When I was in Texas, at no great distance from the Camanchees, the ground was so parched, and 2 C 19 218 , SCARCITY OF WATER. water so scarce, that often and often I drank of the thick puddle of a buffalo wallow. We do riot value as we ought to do the common blessings of which we partake. Water is one of them ; and if ever you are so tried by thirst as to be obliged to drink the puddle, half water and half mud and filth, in which buffaloes have been turning round, and perhaps lying, day after day, you will ever after set a higher value on clear fresh water, and be more thankful to the Giver of all good for a benefit of which you have hith erto thought so little. Basil. I could never drink such puddle as the buffalo's wallow. Austin. We know not what we should be glad to drink, Basil, if we were in a burning hot country, and had nothing else to wet our lips with. Hunter. On several occasions, in the hot regions of which I spoke, I have seen horned frogs hopping about. Their horns are about half an inch long, and some of them nearer an inch, and quite sharp at the points. I dare say that you would consider a horned frog quite a curiosity. ftustin. Indeed we should. When I go among the Ca- mancfiees I shall look out for them. Basil. And remember that you drink heartily at one of the buffalo puddle wallows. Hunter. Now and then a cool clear stream is seen, gliding or rippling along the bottom of a deep ravine ; but, when you run with delight to quench your burning thirst with its delicious water, you find it so salt that you are obliged to spurt it out of your mouth again. At times, you would find the mosquitoes try you as much as the heat and the want of water. In the north, beware of the grizzly bear; and, in the south, prepare for heat, drought, and mosquitoes. You cannot see the Red Indians, in their native haunts, without painful endurance as well as keen enjoyment. The prairie teeming with fruits and flowers, the deep forests, the green bluffs, the noble rivers, the hospi tality of the different tribes of Indians, the novelty of their PREPARATION FOR DEATH. 219 appearance, manners, and customs, together with the delightful views that frequently burst on the sight, are sources of indescribable pleasure ; but, to partake of them, heat and cold, hunger and thirst, toil and danger, must be endured : of both the one and the other I have had my share. And now, though I still love to recall to mind the adventures of my earlier years, and the goodness of God in preserving me amid so many perils, I wish to spend the remainder of my days in retirement and peace ; doing what I can for my fellow beings around me, reading and medi tating on God's holy word, preparing for my latter end, and hopefully looking forward to a glorious resurrection to eternal life, through Him who died for sinners on the cross ; believing, as I do, that " He is able to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for them," Heb. vii. 25. ELIOT PREACHING TO THE INDIANS. CHAPTER X\ I. Dreadful ravages of the small pox Loss sustained by the Mine- tereers, Blackfeet, Crows, and Crees The Mandan people all de stroyed Death of Mah-to-toh-pa, " the four bears'" 1 Attempts to introduce vaccination Narrative of Mr. Catlin John Eliot, the Jirst Protestant missionary among the Red Indians His progress and death Brainerd ; his Christian course and death Character given of him Letter of the Oneida chiefs Speech of the chief Little Turtle Missionary trials Slaughter of the Christian Indians Kahkewaquonaby and Shaw Wundais, two Chippeways, visit England. * NCE more Austin and his brothers set off, with a long afternoon before them, to listen to the hunter's account of the proceedings of the missionaries among the Red Indians. On this occasion they paid another visit to the Red Sand-stone Rock by the river, the place where they first met with their friend the hunter. Here they recalled to mind all fhe circum stances which had taken place at the spot, and agreed that 220 DESTRUCTION OF THE MANDANS. 221 the hunter, in saving their lives by his timely warning, and afterwards adding so much as he had done to their informa tion and pleasure, had been to them one of the best friends they had ever known. With very friendly and grateful feelings towards him, they hastened to the cottage, when the Red Indians, as usual, became the subject of their conversation. "And now,' said Austin, "we are quite ready to hear about the missionaries." Hunter. Let me speak a word or two about the Indians, before I begin my account. You remember that I told you of the Mandans. Austin. Yes. Mah-to-toh-pah was a Mandan, with his fine robes, and war-eagle head-dress ; the rain-makers were Mandans ; also the young warriors, who went through so many tortures in the mystery lodge. Hunter. Well, I must now tell you the truth. After I left the Mandans, great changes came upon them ; and, at the present time, hardly a single Mandan is alive. Austin. Dreadful ! But how was it ? What brought it all about ? Brian. You should have told us this before. Hunter. No. I preferred to tell you first of the people as they were when I was with them. You may remember my observation, in one of your early visits, that great changes had taken place among them ; that the tomahawks of the stronger tribes had thinned the others; that many had sold their lands to the whites, and retjred to the west of the Mississippi ; and that thousands had fallen a prey to the small pox. It was in the year 1838 that this dreadful disease was introduced among the Mandans, and other tribes of the fur traders. Of the Minetereers, Blackfeet, Chayenees, Crows, and Knisteneaux or Crees, twenty-five thousand perished ; but of the poor Mandans, the whole tribe was destroyed. Brian. Why did they not get a doctor; or go out of thsir vHlage on to the wide prairie, that one might not catch the disease from another ? 19* 222 POSITION OF TRIBES. Hunter. Doctors were too far off; for the ravage of the disease was so swift, that it swept them all away in a few months. Their mystery men could not help them; and their enemies, the Sioux, had war parties round their village, so that they could r\pt go out to the wide prairie. There they were, dying fast in their village ; and little else was heard, during day or night, hut wailing, howling, and crying to the Great Spirit to relieve them. Jlustin. And did Mah-to-toh-pah*, " the four bears/' die too ? Hunter. Yes. For, though he recovered from the disease, he could not bear up against the loss of his wives and his children. They all died before his eyes, and he piled them'together in his lodge, and covered them with robes. His braves and his warriors died, and life had no charms for him ; for who was to share with him his joy or his grief? He retired from his wigwam, and fasted and prayed six days, lamenting the destruction of his tribe. He then crawled back to his own lodge, laid himself by his dead family, covered himself with a robe, and died like an Indian chief. This is a melancholy picture ; and when I first heard of the terrible event, I could have wept. Austin. It was indeed a terrible affair. Have they no good doctors among the Red Indians now ? Why do they not send for doctors who know how to cure the small pox, instead of those juggling mystery men ? Hunter. Mauy attempts have been made to introduce vaccination among the tribes ; but their jealousy and want of confidence in white men, who have so much wronged them, and their attachment to their own customs and superstitions, have prevented those attempts from being very successful. There are now not many Indians east of the Mississippi ; most of them have moved to the west of that river. As you move up the Mississippi, the Chickasaws, the Seminoles, the Choctaws, the Creeks, and others, are westerly, on the Red River and the Arkansas River. Then come the Chero- kees, Shawnees, Senecas, Quapaws, Oneidas, and Tuskaroras, CATLIN'S NARRATIVE. 223 the Camanchees, Pawnee Picts, Kiawees, Wicos, and Sho- shonees being far west, nearer the Rocky Mountains. Austin. Where are the Sacs and Foxes ? Hunter. Their hunting grounds lie between the rivers Mississippi and Missouri ; while eastward are those of the Winnebagoes ; and northward and northwest, the Chippe- ways and Sioux. On the Missouri, and other rivers, are the Osages, Kanzas, Delawares, Kickapoos, Ottos, Poncas, Pawneeloups, Grand Pawnees, and Pawnee republics. On the Upper Missouri, northward, are the Riccarees, who now have, also, the Mandan grounds. Nearer the Rocky Moun tains, on the same river, are the Crows ; next to them, the- Shiennees; while further to the north may be found the Blackfeet, Blood Indians, Crees, Ojibbeways, and Assinne- boins. The missionaries are mostly among the tribes on the Red River and the lower part of the Mississippi, such as the Chickasaws, Seminoles, Choctaws, Cherokees, Sene- cas, and others; though there are missionaries to more northerly and westerly tribes. Before telling you about the missionaries let me read you a short passage from Mr. Catlin's "Letters" respecting the destruction of the buffaloes. Austin. Do so by all means. I like to hear about the buffaloes. Hunter. Mr. Catlin says : " I have always counted my self a prudent man, yet I have often waked (as it were) out of the delirium of the chase (into which I had fallen, as into an agitated sleep, and through which I had passed as through a delightful dream), where to have died would have been but to haye remained, riding on, without a struggle or a pang. " In some of these, too, I have arisen from the prairie, covered with dirt and blood having severed company with gun and horse, the one lying some twenty or thirty feet from me with a broken stock, and the other coolly brousing on the grass at half a mile distance, without man, and with out other beast remaining in sight. 224 CATLIN'S NARRATIVE. " For the novice in these scenes there is much danger of his limbs and his life, and he finds it a hard and a desperate struggle that brings him in at the death of these huge mon sters, 'except where it has been produced by hands that have acquired more sleight and tact than his own. " With the Indian, who has made this the every day sport and amusement of his life, there is less difficulty and less danger ; he rides without " losing his breath," and his unagitated hand deals certainty in its deadly blows. " The laso is a long thong of rawhide, of ten or fifteen yards in length, made of several braids or twists, and used chiefly to catch the wild horse, which is done by throw ing over their necks a* noose which is made at the end of the laso, with which they are "choked down. 77 In running the buffaloes, or in time of war, the laso, drags on the ground at the horse's feet, and sometimes several rods behind, so that if a man is dismounted, which is often the case, by the tripping or stumbling of the horse, he has the power of grasping to the laso, and by stubbornly hold ing on to it, of stopping and securing his horse, on whose back he is instantly replaced, and continuing on in the chase. " In the dead of the winters, which are very long and severely cold in this country, where horses cannot be brought into the chase with any avail, the Indian runs upon the surface of the snow by the aid of his snow shoes, which buoy him up, while the great weight of the buffaloes, sinks them down to the middle of their sides, and completely stopping their progress, ensures them certain and easy vic tims to the bow or lance of their pursuers. The snow in these regions often lies during the winter, to the depth of three and four feet, being blown* away from the tops and sides of the hills in many places, which are left bare for the buffaloes to graze upon, whilst it is drifted in the hollows and ravines to a very great depth, and rendered almost entirely impassable to all these huge animals, which, when closely pursued by their enemies, endeavour to plunge through it, but are soon wedged in and almost unable to move, where they CATLIN'S NARRATIVE. 225 fall an easy prey to the Indian, who runs up lightly upon his snow shoes and drives his lance to their hearts. The skins are then stripped off, to be sold to the Fur Traders, and the carcasses left to be devoured by the wolves. This is the season in which the greatest number of these animals are destroyed for their robes they are most easily killed at this time, and their hair or fur being longer and more abundant, gives greater value to the robe. " The Indians generally kill and dry meat enough in the fall, when it is fat and juicy, to last them through the winter ; so that they have little other object for this unlimited slaughter, amid the Qrihs of snow, than that of procuring their robes for traffic with their traders. The snow shoes are made in a great many forms, of two and three feet in length, and one foot or more in width, of a hoop or hoops bent around for the frame, with a netting or web woven across with strings of raw hide, on which the feet rest, and to which they are fastened with straps somewhat like a skate. With these the Indian will glide over the snow with astonishing quickness, without sinking down, or scarcely leaving his track where he has gone. " The poor buffaloes have their enemy man, besetting and beseiging them at all times of the year, and in all the modes that man in his superior wisdom has been able to devise for their destruction. They struggle in vain to evade his deadly shafts, when he dashes amongst them over the plains on his wild horse they pluuge into the snow-drifts where they yield themselves an easy prey to their de stroyers, and they also stand unwittingly and behold him, unsuspected under the skin of a white wolf, insinuating himself and his fatal weapons into close company, when they are peaceably grazing on the level prairies, and shot down before they are aware of their danger. " There are several varieties of the wolf species in this country, the most formidable and most numerous of which are white, often sneaking about in gangs or families of fifty or sixty in numl ers, appearing in distance, on the green 3D 226 CATLIN'S NARRATIVE. prairies like nothing but a flock of sheep. Many of these animals grow to a very great size, being I should think, quite a match for the largest Newfoundland dog. At present, whilst the buffaloes are so abundant, and these ferocious animals are glutted with the buffalo's flesh, they are harm less, and every where sneak away from man's presence ; which I scarcely think will be the case after the buffaloes are all gone, and they are left, as they must be, with scarcely anything to eat. They always are seen following about in the vicinity of herds of buffaloes and stand ready to pick the bones of those that the hunters leave on the ground, or to overtake and devour those that are wounded, which fall an easy prey to them. While the herd of buffaloes are together, they seem to have little dread of the wolf, and allow them to come in close company with them. The In dian then has taken advantage of this fact, and often places himself under the skin of this animal, and crawls for half a mile or more on his hands and knees, until he approaches within a few rods of the unsuspecting group, and easily shoots down the fattest of the throng. "The buffalo is a very timid animal, and shuns the vicinity of man with the keenest sagacity ; yet, when over taken, and harrassed or wounded, turns upon its assailants with the utmost fury, who have only to seek safety in flight. In their desperate resistance the finest horses are often destroyed ; but the Indian, with his superior sagacity and dexterity generally finds some effective mode of escape. (See Engraving.) " During the season of the year whilst the calves are young, the male seems to stroll about by the side of the dam, as if for the purpose of protecting the young, at which time it is exceedingly hazardous to attack them, as they are sure to turn upon their pursuers, who have often to fly to each others assistance. The buffalo calf, during the first six months is red, and has so much the appearance of a red calf in cultivated fields, that it could easily be mingled and mistaken amongst them. In the fall, when it changes its 227 CATLIN'S NARRATIVE. 229 i hair it takes a brown coat for the winter, which it always retains. In pursuing a large herd of buffaloes at the season when their calves are but a few weeks old, I have often been exceedingly amused with the curious manoeuvres of these shy little things. Amidst the thundering confusion of a throng of several hundreds or several thousands of these ani mals there will be many of the calves that lose sight of their dams ; and being left behind by the throng, and the swift passing hunters, they endeavour to secrete themselves? when they are exceedingly put to it on a level prairie, where nought can be seen but the short grass of six or eight inches in height, save an occasional bunch of wild sage, a few inches higher, to which the poor affrighted things will run, and dropping on their knees, will push their noses under itf and into the grass, where they will stand for hours, with their eyes shut, imagining themselves securely hid, whilst they are standing up quite straight upon their hind feet and can easily be seen at several miles distance. It is a familiar amusement for us accustomed to these scenes, to retreat back over the ground where we have just escorted the herd, and approach these little trembling things, which stubbornly maintain th.eir positions, with their noses pushed under the grass, and their eyes strained upon us, as we dismount from our horses and are passing around them. From this fixed position they are sure not to move, until hands are laid upon them, and then for the shins of a novice, we can extend our sympathy ; or if he can preserve the skin on his bones from the furious buttings of his head, we know how to congratulate him on his signal success and good luck. In these desperate struggles, for a moment, the little thing is conquered, and makes no further resistance. And I have often, in concurrence with a known custom of the country, held my hands over the eyes of the calf, and breathed a few strong breaths into its nostrils ; after which I have, with my hunting companions, rode several miles into our encampment, with the little prisoner busily follow-" ing the heels of my horse the whole way, as closely and as 20 230 CATLIN'S NARRATIVE. affectionately as its instinct would attach it to the company of its dam ! This is one of the most extraordinary things that I have met with in the habits of this wild country, and although I had often heard of it, and felt unable exactly to believe it, I am now willing to bear testimony to the fact, from the numerous instances which I have witnessed since I came into the country. During the time that I resided at this post, in the spring of the year, on my way up the river, I assisted (in numerous hunts of the buffalo, with the Fur Company's men,) in bringing in, in the above manner, several of these little prisoners, which sometimes followed for five or six miles close to our horses' heels, and even into the Fur Company's Fort, and into the stable where our horses were led. In this way, before J left for the head waters of the Missouri, I think we had collected about a dozen, which Mr. Laidlaw was successfully raising with the aid of a good milch cow, and which were to be com mitted to the care of Mr. Chouteau to be transported by the return of the steamer, to his extensive plantation in the vicinity of St. Louis.* " It is truly a melancholy contemplation for the traveller in this country, to anticipate the period which is not far distant, when the last of these noble animals, at the hands of white and red men, will fall victims to their cruel and improvident rapacity ; leaving these beautiful green fields, a vast and idle waste, unstocked and unpeopled for ages to come, until the bones of the one and the traditions of the other will have vanished, and left scarce an intelligible trace behind. " That the reader should not think me visionary in these contemplations, or romancing in making such assertions, I *The fate of these poor little prisoners was a very disastrous one. The steamer having a distance of 1600 miles to perform, and lying a week or two on sand bars, in a country where milk could not be pro cured, they all perished but one, which is now flourishing in the exten sive fielda of that gentleman. CATLIN'S NARRATIVE. 231 arill hand him the following item of the extravagancies which are practised in these regions, and rapidly leading to the results which I have just named. " When I first arrived in this place on my way up the river, which was in the month of May, in 1832, and had taken up my lodgings in the Fur Company's Fort, Mr. Laidlaw, of whom I have before spoken, and also his chief clerk, Mr. Halsey, and many of their men, as well as the chiefs of the Sioux, told me, that only a few days before I arrived, (when an immense herd of buffaloes had showed themselves on the opposite side of the river almost black ening the plains for a great distance,) a party of five or six hundred Sioux Indians on horseback, forded the river about mid-day, and spending a few hours amongst them, recrossed the river at sun-down and came into the Fort with fourteen hundred fresh buffalo tongues, which were thrown down in a mass, and for which they required but a few gallons of whiskey, which was soon demolished, indulging them in a little, but not harmless carouse. " This profligate waste of the lives of these noble and useful animals, when, from all that I could learn, not a skin or a pound of the meat (except the tongues,) was brought in, fully supports me in the seemingly extravagant predictions that I have made as to their extinction, which I am certain is near at hand. In the above extravagant instance, at a season when their skins were without fur and not worth taking off, and their camp was so well stocked with fresh and dried meat, that they had no occasion for using the flesh there is a fair exhibition of the improvident char acter of the savagej and also of his recklessness in catering for his appetite, so long as the present inducements are held out to him in his country, for its gratification. " In this singular country, where the poor Indians have no laws or regulations of society, making it a vice or an im propriety to drink to excess, they think it no harm to- indulge in the delicious beverage, as long as they are able to buy whiskey to drink. They look to white men as wiser 232 CATLIN'S NARRATIVE. than themselves, and able to set them examples they see none of these in their country but sellers of whiskey, who are constantly tendering it to them, and most of them setting the example by using it themselves ; and they easily acquire a taste, that to be catered for, where whiskey is sold at sixteen dollars per gallon, soon impoverishes them, and must soon strip the skin from the last buffalo's back that lives in their country, to " be dressed by their squaws" and vended to the Traders for a pint of diluted alcohol. " From the above remarks it will be seen, that not only the red men, but red men and white, have aimed destruc tion at the race of these animals ; and with them, beasts have turned hunters of buffaloes in this country, slaying them, however, in less numbers, _and for far more laudable purpose than that of selling their skins. The white wolves, of which I have spoken in a former epistle, follow the herds of buffaloes, as I have said, from one season to another, glutting themselves on the carcasses of those that fall by the deadly shafts of their enemies, or linger with disease or old age to be despatched by these sneaking cormorants, who are ready at all times kindly to relieve them from the pangs of a lingering death. " Whilst the herd is together, the wolves never attack them, as they instantly gather for combined resistance, which they effectually make. But when the herds are travelling, it often happens that an aged or wounded one, lingers at a distance behind, and when fairly out of sight of the herd, is set upon by these voracious hunters, which often gather to the number of fifty or more, and are sure at last to torture him to death, and use him up at a meal. The buffalo however, is a huge 5nd furious animal, and when his retreat is cut off, makes desperate and deadly resistance, contending to the last moment for the right of life and- oftentimes deals death by wholesale, to his canine assailants, which he is tossing into the air or stamping to death under his feet. " During my travels in these regions, I have several times CATLIN'S NARRATIVE. 233 come -across such a gang of these animals surrounding an old or a wounded bull, where it would seem, from appear ances, that they had been for several days in attendance, and at intervals desperately engaged in the effort to take his life. But a short time since, as one of my hunting companions and myself were returning to our encampment with our horses loaded with meat, we discovered at a dis tance, a huge bull, encircled with a gang of white wolves ; we rode upr as near as we could without driving them away, and being within pistol shot, we had a remarkably good view, where I sat for a few moments and made a sketch in my note book ; after which, we rode up and gave the signal for them to disperse, which they instantly did, withdrawing themselves to the distance of fifty or sixty rods, when we found, to our great surprise, that the animal had made desperate resistance, until his eyes were entirely eaten out of his head the grizzle of his nose was mostly gone his tongue was half eaten off, and the skin and the flesh of his legs torn almost literally into strings. In this tattered and torn condition, the poor old veteran stood bracing up in the midst of his devourers, who had ceased hostilities for a few minutes, to enjoy a sort of parley, recovering strength and preparing to resume the attack in a few moments again. In this group, some were reclining, to gain breath, whilst others were sneaking about and licking their chaps in anxiety for a renewal of the attack ; and others, less lucky, had been crushed to death by the feet or the horns of the bull. I rode nearer to the pitiable object as he stood bleeding and trembling before me, and said to him, " Now is your time, old fellow, and you had better be off." Though blind and nearly destroyed, there seemed evidently to be a recognition of a friend in me, as he straightened up, and, trembling with excitement, dashed off at full speed upon the prairie, in a staight line. We turned our horses and resumed our march, and when we had advanced a mile or more, we looked back, and on our left, where we saw again the ill-fated animal surrounded by 2E 20* 234 JOHN ELIOT. his tormentors, to whose insatiable voracity he unquestion ably soon fell a victim." Brian. This is very interesting. Now tell us about the missionaries to the Indians. Austin. Who was the first missionary who went among them? Hunter. I believe the first was John Eliot. More than two hundred years ago, a body of pious Englishmen left their native land, because they were not allowed in England peaceably to serve God according to their consciences. They landed in America, having obtained a grant of land there. They were called "Puritans," and "Pilgrim Fathers." It is certain, that, whatever were their peculiar ities, and by whatever names they were known, the fear of God arid the love of mankind animated their hearts. Brian. And it was the same with John Eliot ? Hunter. It was. These Pilgrim Fathers, seeing that the Indians were living in idleness, cruelty, and superstition, were desirous to instruct them in useful arts, and still more in the fear of the Lord ; and John Eliot, who had left Eng land to join his religious friends in America, was the first Protestant missionary among the Indians. Austin. I wonder he was not afraid of going among them. Hunter. He that truly fears God, has no need to fear danger in the path of duty. John Eliot had three good motives, that girded his loins and strengthened his heart : the first, was the glory of God, in the conversion of the poor Indians ; the second, was his love of mankind, arid pity for such as were ignorant of true religion ; and the third, was his desire that the promise of his friends to spread the gospel among the Red Indians should be fulfilled. It was no light task that he had undertaken, as I will prove to you. I dare say, that you have not quite forgotten all the long names that I gave you. Shon-ga-ton-ga-che^h- en-day, " the horse dung," was one ; and Mah-to-rah-rish- ELIOT'S LABOURS. 235 'iee-6eh-ee-rak, " the grizzly bear that runs wimout regard," vas another. flustin. I remember your telling us of them; and I suppose they are the longest words in the world. Hunter. I will now give you two words in one of the languages that John Eliot had to learn, and then, perhaps, you will alter your opinion. The first of them is noorro- mantammoonkanunonnash, which means, " our loves ;" and the second, or "our questions," is kummogokdonatto- ottammoctiteaongannunnonash. Austin. Why that last word would reach all across one of our copy books. Basil. You had better learn those two words, Austin, to begin with. Brian. Ay, do, Austin : if you have many such when you go among the red men, you must sit up at night to learn what you have to speak in the day. Austin. No, no ; I have settled all that. I mean to- have an interpreter with me ; one who knows every thing. Please to tell us a little more about Eliot. Hunter. I will. An author says, speaking of missiona ries, " As I hold the highest title on earth to be that of a servant of God, and the most important employment that of making known to sinners the salvation that God has wrought for them, through his Son Jesus Christ; so I cannqt but estimate very highly the character of an humble, zealous, conscientious missionary. Men undertake, endure, and achieve much when riches, and honours, and reputa tion are to be attained ; but where is the worldly reputa tion of him who goes, with his life in his hand, to make known to barbarous lands the glad tidings of salvation? Where are the honours and the money bags of the missionary ? In many cases, toil and anxiety, hunger and thirst, reviling and violence, danger and death await him ; but where is his earthly reward ?" Eliot's labours were incessant ; translating not only the commandments, the Lord's prayer, and many parts of Scripture into the 236 ELIOT'S LABOURS. .ndian languages, but also the whole Bible. This was the first Bible ever printed in America. Basil. Remember that, Brian ! Hunter. For days together he travelled from place to place, wet to the skin, wringing the wet from his stockings at night. Sometimes he was treated cruelly by the sachems, (principal chiefs,) sagamores, (lesser chiefs,) and powows, (conjurers, or mystery men ;) but though they thrust him out, and threatened his life, he held on his course, telling them that he was in the service of the Great God, and feared them not. So highly did they think of his services in England, that a book was printed, called " The Day-breaking, if not the Sun-rising of the Gospel with the Indians in New England;" and another, entitled "The Clear Sunshine of the Gospel breaking forth upon the Indians ;" and dedicated to the parliament ; in order that assistance and encouragement might be given him. At the close of a grammer, published by him, he wrote the words, " Prayers and pains, through faith in Christ Jesus, will do any thing." Brian. I should think that he was one of the best men that ever lived. Hunter. He instituted schools, and devoted himself to the Christian course he had undertaken with an humble and ardent spirit, until old age and increasing infirmities render ed him too feeble to do as he had done before. Even then, he catechised the negro slaves in the neighbourhood around him; and took a poor blind boy home to his own house, that he might teach him to commit to memory some of the chapters in the Bible. Among the last expressions that dropped from his lips were the words, " Welcome joy ! Pray ! pray ! pray !" This was in the eighty -sixth year of his age. No wonder he should even now be re membered by us, as "the apostle of the Indians." Basil. I am very glad that you told us about him. What a good old man he was when he died ! Hunter. There were many good men, after his death, DAVID BRAINERD. 237 who trod as closely as they could in his steps : but I must not stop to dwell upon them. David Brainerd, however, must not be passed by : he was a truly humble and zealous servant of the Most High. You may, indeed, judge of his humility by the following extract from his writings. " My soul has, for a long time past, been in a truly pitiable con dition. Sometimes, I have been so overwhelmed with a sense of my insignificance and unworthiness,' that I have been ashamed that any, not excepting the meanest of my fellow creatures, should so much as spend a thought about me. Sometimes, when travelling among the thick brakes, I have wished that, like them, I might drop into everlasting oblivion. Sometimes, I have almost resolved never again to see any of my acquaintance, thinking I could not hold up my face before them ; and have longed for the remotest corner on earth, as a retreat from all my friends, that I might never be seen or heard of more. Sometimes, the consideration of my ignorance has occasioned me great anxiety and distress: but my soul has, in a particular manner, been full of anguish from fear, and guilt, and shame ; because I had ever preached the gospel, or had any thought of that important work. Sometimes, I have been in deep distress, on feeling some particular corruption rise in my breast, and swell like a mighty torrent ; while, at the same time, ten thousand sins and follies presented them selves to my view, in all their native blackness and deformity. Such things as these have weighed down my soul, combined as they are with those unfavourable exter nal circumstances in which I am at present placed ; desti tute of most of the conveniences of life, at least of all its pleasures ; without a friend to whom I may unbosom my sorrows, and sometimes without a place of retirement where I may unburden my soul before God.'* Basil. Poor Brainerd ! , Brian. Why, he was just such another as Eliot. Hunter. I must tell you of a strange Indian that 238 AN EXTRAORDINARY CHARACTER. Brainerd met with ; .the following is the account, and I think it will much interest you. "In this part of the country, Brainerd met with a zealous reformer of the Indian religion, or rather a restorer of what he considered their ancient mode of worship. But of all the spectacles he ever saw, none appeared so horrible, none excited such images of terror in his mind, none corresponded so nearly with the common idea of the infernal powers. He presented himself to him in his priestly garb, consisting of a coat of bear-skins hanging down to his toes, a bear-skin cap on his head, and a pair of bear-skin stockings on his feet ; a large wooden face, the one half painted black, the other of a tawny colour, like the Indians', with an extravagant mouth, cut ex tremely awry. In his hand was the instrument he em ployed for music, in his idolatrous worship : it was a tortoise-sheh 1 with some corn in it, fixed on a piece of wood for a handle. As he came forward, he beat time with his rattle, and danced with all his might ; but allowed no part of his body, not even his fingers, to be seen. His appear ance and gestures were so unlike all that was human, that when he carne near, Brainerd could not help shrinking back with horror, though it was then noon-day, and he knew perfectly well who it was. It appears he had a house, in which were several images, and the ground was beaten almost as hard as a rock by his frequent and violent dancing. Brainerd conversed with him about the princi ples of Christianity : some of them he liked ; others he disliked. God, he said, had taught him his religion ; and he never would relinquish it : he was anxious, however, to find some who would cordially join with him in it, for the Indians had grown very careless and degenerate : he had thoughts, therefore, of leaving all his friends, travelling abroad, and searching for some who would unite with him ; for he believed God had some good people in the world, who viewed things in the same light as himself. He had not always felt as he now did : formerly he was like the ELIOT AND BRAINERD. 239 otner Indians ; but, about four or five years ago, he became greatly distressed in his mind ; he could no longer dwell among his countrymen, but retired into the woods, and lived there alone tor several months. At length, God comforted his heart, and showed him what he should do Since that period, he had known God, and endeavoured to serve him ; he also loved all men, whoever they were, in a manner he never did before. It further appeared, from the accounts of the Indians themselves, that he was a great enemy to their drinking spirituous liquors, and when he could not dissuade them from that ruinous practice, he used to leave them, and go crying into the woods. Some of his sentiments, indeed, were rational and just ; and Brainerd even informs us, there was something in his temper and disposition more like true religion than anything he ever beheld in a pagan. He appeared to be sincere, honest, and conscientious,, in his own way; and, on this account, was derided by his countrymen as a precise zealot, who made a needless noise about religion." Austin. I never heard of a stranger man ; and yet he does not seem to have been a bad man, after all. Basil. No. He seems to have been much better than his countrymen. Hunter. Both Eh'ot and Brainerd did a great deal of good among the Red Indians ; the language of Brainerd was, " Here am I, Lord, send me ; send me to the ends of the earth ; send n^e to the rough, the savage pagans of the wilderness ; send me from all that is called comfort on earth; send me even to death itself, if it be but in thy service, and to extend thy kingdom." Brian. 1 hardly know whether Eliot was the best man, or Brainerd. Hunter. They were very unlike in one thing; for Eliot lived till he was eighty-six years old ; whereas Brainerd died in the thirtieth year of his age. But though so young, it is said of him, by a learned and good man, " The Life and Diary of David Brainerd exhibits a perfect pattern of 240 SPEECH OF LITTLE TURTLE. the qualities which* should distinguish the instructor of rude and barbarous tribes; the most invincible patience and self-denial, the profoundest humility, exquisite pru dence, indefatigable industry, and such a devotedness to God ; or rather such an absorption of the whole soul in zeal for the Divine glory and the salvation of men, as is scarcely to be paralleled since the age of the apostles." Brian. Then, he was as good a man as Eliot. Hunter. I will read you an extract from a letter written by some Oneida chiefs, by which you will see that the labours of these good men were not in vain. " The holy word of Jesus has got place amongst us, and advances. Many have lately forsaken their sins to appear ance, and turned to God. There are some among us who are very stubborn arid strong ; but Jesus is almighty, and has all strength, and his holy word is very strong too : therefore we hope it will conquer and succeed more and more. We say no more ; only we ask our fathers to pray for us, though they are at a great distance. Perhaps, by- and-by, through the strength and mercy of Jesus, we sh J1 meet in his kingdom above. Farewell. TAGAWAROW, chief of the Bear tribe. SUGHNAGEAROT, chief of the Wolf tribe. OJEKHETA, chief of the Turtle tribe" Austin. Why, they were all three of them chiefs ! Hunter. The speech made by the chief, Little Turtle, at Baltimore, on his way to see the president of the United States, will interest you. Some Quakers, who saw him, told him that the habit among his tribe of drinking rum, prevented them from doing them good. " Brothers and friends When your forefathers first met on this island, your red brethren were very numerous ; but, since the introduction amongst us of what you call spirituous liquors, and what we think may justly be, called poison, our numbers are greatly diminished. It has de stroyed a great part of your red brethren. " My friends and brothers We plainly perceive that you SPEECH OF LITTLE TURTLE. 241 see the very evil which destroys your red brethren. It is hot an evil of our own making. We have not placed it amongst ourselves ; it is an evil placed amongst us by the white people : we look to them to remove it out of the country. We tell them, < Brethren, fetch us useful things : bring us goods that will clothe us, our women, and our children ; and not this evil liquor, that destroys our health, that destroys our reason, that destroys our lives.' But all that we can say on this subject is of no service, nor gives relief to your red brethren. "My friends and brothers I rejoice to find that you agree in opinion with us, and express an anxiety to be, if possible, of service to us, in removing this great evil out of our country ; an evil which has had so much room in it, and has destroyed so many of our lives, that it causes our young men to say, ( We had better be at war with the white people. This liquor which they introduce into our country, is more to be feared than the gun or tomahawk.' There are more of us dead since the treaty of Greenville, than we lost by the six years' war before. It is all owing to the introduction of this liquor among us. " Brothers When our young men have been out hunt ing, and are returning home loaded with skins and furs, on their way, if it happens that they come where this whiskey is deposited, the white man who sells it, tells them to take a little drink. Some of them will say, 6 No ; I do not want it.' They go on till they come to another house, where they find more of "the same kind of drink. It is there offered again ; they refuse ; and again the third time : but, finally, the fourth or fifth time, one accepts of it, and takes a drink, and getting one he wants another, and then a third, and fourth, till his senses have left him. After his roason comes back to him, when he gets up and finds where he is, he asks for his peltry. The answer is, < You have drunk them.' < Where is my gun ?' < It is gone.' 'Where is my blanket?' 'It is gone.' 'Where is my shirt?' ' You have sold it for whiskey !' Now, brothers, 2 F 21 242 PERSECUTION OF MISSIONARIES. figure to yourselves what condition this man must be in He has a family at home ; a wife and children who stand in need of the profits of his hunting. What must be their wants, when even he himself is without a shirt ?" Austin. There is a great deal of good sense in what Little Turtle said. Hunter. The war between England and America made sad confusion among the Red Indians, and the missionaries too ; for it was reported that the missionaries were joining the French against the English, so that they and the Indian converts were dreadfully persecuted. A great number of the latter were sheltered in a workhouse at Lancaster, but a furious mob broke open the workhouse, and murdered them all. Brian. Dreadful ! dreadful ! Hunter. Colonel de Peyster, who was then the English governor at Fort Detroit, suspected the Christian Indians of being partisans of the Americans, and the missionaries of being spies ; and he wished the Indians favourable to him to carry them all oif. Captain Pipe, a Delaware chief, per suaded the half king of the Hurons to force them away. Persecution went on, till the missionaries, seeing that no other course remained, they being plundered without, mercy, and their lives threatened, consented to emigrate. They were thus compelled to quit their pleasant settlement, es corted by a troop of savages headed by an English officer. The half king of the Hurons went with them. But I will read you an account of what took place after they reached Sandusky Creek. "Having arrived at Sandusky Creek, after a journey of upwards of four weeks, the -half king of the Hurons and his warriors left them, and marched into their own country, without giving them any particular orders how to proceed. Thus they were abandoned in a wilderness where there was neither game nor provisions of any kind ; such was the place to which the barbarians had led them, notwithstanding they had represented it as a perfect paradise. After wandering to and fro for some PERSECUTION OF MISSIONARIES. 243 time, they resolved 'o spend the winter in Upper Sandusky; and, having pitched on the most convenient spot they could find in this dreary region, they erected small huts of logs and bark,jto shelter themselves from the rain and cold. They were now, however, so poor, that they had neither beds nor blankets ; for, on the journey, the savages had stolen every thing from them, except only their utensils for manufacturing rnaple sugar. But nothing distressed them so much as the want of provisions. Some had long spent their all, and now depended on the charity of their neigh bours for a morsel to eat. Even the missionaries, who hitherto had uniformly gained a livelihood by the labour of their hands, were now reduced to the necessity of receiving support from the congregation. As their wants were so urgent, Shebosh the missionary, and several of the Christian Indians, returned, as soon as possible, to their settlements on the Muskingum, to fetch the Indian corn which they had left growing in the fields. " Scarcely had the congregation begun to settle in San- dusky, when the missionaries were ordered to go and ap pear before the governor of Fort Detroit. Four of them, accompanied by several of the Indian assistants, accordingly set off without delay, while the other two remained with their little flock. On taking their departure, they experi enced the most agonizing sensations: partly, as they knew not what might be the issue of the journey ; and partly, as they were obliged to leave their families in want of the common necessaries of life. As they travelled chiefly by land, along the banks of Lake Erie, they had to pass through numerous swamps, over large inundated plains, and through thick forests. But the most painful circum stance was, their hearing that some of the Indians, who had gone to Muskingum to fetch corn, had been murdered by the white people ; and that a large body of these miscreants was marching to Sandusky, to surprise the new settlement. This report, indeed, was not correct. Shebosh the mission ary, and five of the Christian Indians, were, it is true, 244 PERSECUTION OF MISSIONARIES. taken prisoners at Shoenbrunn, and carried to Pittsburg. "The others returned safe to Sandusky, with about four hundred bushels of Indian corn, which they had gathered in the fields. But as the travellers did not hear a correct statement of these circumstances until afterwards, they suffered meanwhile the greatest anxiety and distress. "Having arrived at Detroit, they appeared before the governor, in order to answer the accusations brought against them, of holding a correspondence with the Americans, to the prejudice of the English interest. The investigation, however, was deferred till Captain Pipe, their principal accuser, should arrive. A circumstance which could not but give them much uneasiness, as he had hitherto shown himself their bitter and determined enemy. They had no friend on earth to interpose in their behalf; but they had a Friend in heaven, in whom they put their trust : nor was their confidence in Him in vain. On the day of trial, Captain Pipe, after some ceremonies had passed between him and Colonel de Peyster, respecting the scalps and prisoners which he had brought from the United States, rose and addressed the governor as follows: < Father You commanded us to bring the believing Indians and their teachers from the Muskingum. This has been done. When we had brought them to Sandusky, you ordered us to bring their teachers and some of their chiefs unto you. Here you see them before you. Now you may speak with them yourself, as you have desired. But I hope you will speak good words unto them : yea, I tell you, speak good words unto them; for they are my friends, and I should be sorry to see them ill used.' These last words he repeated two or three times. In reply to this speech, the governor enumerated the various complaints he had made against the brethren, and called upon him to prove that they had actually corresponded with the Americans, to the pre judice of the English. To this the chief -replied, that such a thing might have happened; but they would do it no more, for they were now at Detroit. The governor, justly PERSECUTION OF MISSIONARIES. 245 dissatisfied with this answer, peremptorily demanded that he should give a direct reply to his question. Pipe was now greatly embarrassed ; and, bending to his counsellors, asked them what he should say. But they all hung their heads in silence. On a sudden, however, he rose, and thus addressed the governor : ( I said before that such a thing might have happened ; now I will tell you the truth. The missionaries are innocent. They have done nothing of themselves; what they did, they were compelled to do.' Then, smiting his breast, he added : i I am to blame, and the chiefs who were with me. We forced them to do it when they refused;' alluding to the correspondence between the Delaware chiefs and the Americans, of which the missionaries were the innocent medium. Thus the brethren found an advocate and a friend in their accuser and enemy. "After making some further inquiries, the governor declared, before the whole camp, that the brethren were innocent of all the charges alleged against them ; that he felt great satisfaction in their endeavours to civilize and Christianize the Indians ; and that he would permit them to return to their congregation without delay. He even offered them the use of his own house, in the most friendly manner; and as they had been plundered, contrary to his express command, he ordered them to be supplied with clothes, and various other articles of which they stood in need. He even bought the four watches which the savages had taken from them, and sold to et trader. After experi encing various other acts of kindness from him, they re turned to Sandusky, and were received with inexpressible joy by their families and the whole congregation." Austin. Come, I am glad it has all ended so well. Gaptain Pipe and Colonel de Peyster acted an unworthy part, to suspect the missionaries. Brian. They did; but the colonel declared before the whole camp that they were innocent. That was making some amends for his suspicions. 21* 246 INDIANS OF THE FAxt WEST. Basil. Captain Pipe ought to have been ashamed of himself. Hunter. The missionaries went through varied trials, and nearly a hundred Christian Indians men, women, and children were cruelly slaughtered; but afterwards missions began to wear a more prosperous appearance. Some time ago, Kahkewaquonaby, a Chippeway, visited England, and spoke very eloquently at many public Christian assemblies. Shaw Wundais, otherwise John Sunday, a Chippeway chief, came also, and seemed to be a humble minded and zealous Christian. But I have now kept you longer than usual; the next time you come here, I will finish my missionary account. Though among the tribes near the whites great changes have taken place; yet, among the Indians of the far west, their customs are but little altered. They join in the buffalo hunt, assemble in the war party engage in their accustomed games, and smoke the pipe of peace, the same as ever. WAH-MENITU. CHAPTER XVII. Trade of the Indians Visit of Mr. Catlin to the Pawnees Council Exchange of Prisoners. PON the first pleasant day after their last interview, the boys made another visit to the hun ter, being still desirous to hear more of his interesting accounts of the Indians. They were anxious to learn further particulars respecting the trade of the Indians with the whites. Austin. What is the principal object of the trade be tween the Indians and the whites? Hunter. The most valuable article which the Indians have to offer is^ of course, the furs which are the products of their hunting. 247 248 CATLIN'S NARRATIVE. Brian. What do they obtain in exchange for these ? Hunter. Arms, hatchets, knives, ammunition, blankets and articles of finery. Some of them discover great shrewd ness in bargaining, and are excellent judges of the quality of the articles offered to them. Others are easily deceived, and make what to us would seem very foolish bargains. Mr. Catlin relates that a Carnanchee offered him a splendid horse in exchange for an old cotton umbrella. Brian. That seems a foolish bargain indeed. Can you not tell us something more of Mr. Catlin. Hunter. I will read to you one of his letters describing a visit to the Pawnees and the recovery of Judge Martin's son from captivity. Mr. Catlin was in company with a regiment of American dragoons under Colonel Dodge. " We were four days travelling over a beautiful country, most of the way prairie, and generally along near the base of a stupendous range of mountains of reddish * granite, in many places piled up to an immense height without tree or shrubbery on them; looking as if they had actually dropped from the clouds in such, a confused mass, and all lay where they had fallen. Such we found the mountains enclosing the Pawnee village, on the bank of Red River, about ninety miles from the Camanchee town. The dragoon regiment was drawn up within half a mile or so of this village, and encamped in a square, where we remained three days. We found here a very numerous village, containing some five or six hundred wigwams, all made of long prairie grass, thatched over poles which are fastened in the ground and bent in at the top; giving to them, in distance, the appearance of straw beehives. " To our very great surprise, we found these people cul tivating quite extensive fields of corn (maize), pumpkins, melons, beans and squashes; so, with these aids, and an abundant supply of buffalo meat, they may be said to be living very well. "The next day after our arrival here, Colonel Dodge opened a council with the chiefs, in the chief's lodge, INDIAN PUR TRADE. 249 CATKIN'S NARRATIVE. 251 where he had the most of his officers around him. He first explained to them the friendly views with which he came to see them ; and of the wish of our Government to establish a lasting peace with them, which they seemed at once to appreciate and highly to estimate. " The head chief of the tribe is a very old man, and he several times replied to Colonel Dodge in a very eloquent manner ; assuring him of the friendly feelings of his chiefs and warriors towards the pale faces, in the direction from whence we came. "After Colonel Dodge had explained in general terms, the objects of our visit, he told them that he should expect from them some account of the foul murder of Judge Martin and his family on the False Washita, which had been perpetrated but a few weeks before, and which the Camanchees had told us was done by the Pawnee Picts. The Colonel told them, also, that he learned from the Camanchees, that they had the little boy, the son of the murdered gentleman, in their possession ; and that he should expect them to deliver him up, as an indispensable condition of the friendly arrangement that was now making. They positively denied the fact, and all know ledge of it ; firmly assuring us that they knew nothing of the murder, or of the boy. The demand was repeatedly made, and as often denied ; until at length a negro-man was discovered, who was living with the 'Pawnees, who spoke good English ; and coining into the council-house, gave information that such a boy had recently been brought into their village, and was now a prisoner amongst them. This excited great surprise and indignation in the council, and Colonel Dodge then informed the chiefs that the council would rest here ; and certainly nothing further of a peaceable nature would transpire until the boy was brought in. In this alarming dilemma, all remained in gloomy silence for awhile ; when Colonel Dodge further informed the chiefs, that as an evidence of his friendly intentions towards them, he had, on starting, purchased at a very 252 CATLIN'S NARRATIVE. great price, from their enemies the Osages, two Pawnee (and one Kiowa) girls ; which had been held by them for some years as prisoners, and which he had brought the whole way home, and had here ready to be delivered to their friends and relations; but whom he certainly would never show, until the little boy was produced. He also made another demand, which was for the restoration of an United States ranger, by the name of Abbe, who had been captured by them during the summer before. They acknowledged the seizure of this man, and all solemnly de clared that he had been taken by a party of the Caman- chees, over whom they had no control, and carried beyond the Red River into the Mexican provinces, where he was put to death. They held a long consultation about the boy, and seeing their plans defeated by the evidence of the negro ; and also being convinced of the friendly disposition of the Colonel, by bringing home their prisoners from the Osages, they sent out and had the boy brought in, from the middle of a corn-field, where he had been secreted. He is a smart and very intelligent boy of nine years of age, and when he came in, he was entirely naked, as they keep their- own boys of that age. There was a great excitement in the council when the little fellow was brought in ; and as he passed amongst them, he looked around and exclaimed with some surprise, 'What! are there white men here?' to which Colonel Dodge replied, and asked his name ; and he promptly answered, <my name is Matthew Wright Martin.' He was inen received into Colonel Dodge's arms; and an order was immediately given for the Pawnee and Kiowa girls to be brought forward; they were in a few minutes; brought into the council-house, when they were at once re cognised by their friends and relatives, who embraced them with the most extravagant expressions of joy and satisfac tion. The heart of the venerable old chief was melted at this evidence of white man's friendship, and he rose upon his feet, and taking Colonel Dodge in his arms, and placing his left cheek against the left cheek of the Colonel, held him CATLIN'S NARRATIVE. 253 for some minutes without saying a word, whilst tears were flowing from his eyes. He then embraced each officer in turn, in the same silent and affectionate manner; which form took an half hour or more, before it was completed.* " From this moment the council, which before had been a very grave and uncertain one, took a pleasing and friendly turn. And this excellent old man ordered the women to supply the dragoons with something to eat, as they were hungry. " The little encampment, which heretofore was in a woful condition, having eaten up their last rations twelve hours before, were now gladdened by the approach of a number of women, who brought their "back loads" of dried buffalo meat and green corn, and threw it down amongst them. This seemed almost like a providential deliverance, for the country between here and the Camanchees, was entirely destitute of game, and our last provisions were consumed. " The council thus proceeded successfully and pleasantly for several days, whilst, the warriors of the Kiowas and Wicos, two adjoining and friendly tribes living further to the West, were arriving ; and also a great many from other bands of the Camanchees, who had heard of our arrival ; until two thousand or more of these wild and fearless looking fellows were assembled, and all, from their horses' backs, with v/eapons in hand, were looking into our pitiful little encampment, of two hundred men, all in a state of dependence and almost literal starvation; and at the same time nearly one half the number too sick to have made a successful resistance if we were to have been attacked." " The command returned to this village after an absence of fifteen days, in a fatigued and destitute condition, with scarcely any thing to eat, or chance of getting any thing * The little boy of whom I have spoken, was brought in the whole distance to Fort Gibson, in the arms of the dragoons, who took turns in carrying him ; and after the command arrived there, he was transmitted to the Red River, by an officer, who had the enviable satisfaction of de livering him into the arms of his disconsolate and half distracted mother. 22 254 CATLIN'S NARRATIVE. here;' in consequence of which, Colonel Dodge almost instantly ordered preparations to be made for a move to the head of the Canadian river, a distance of an hundred or more miles, where the Indians represented to us there would be found immense herds of buffaloes ; a place where we could get enough to eat, and by lying by awhile, could re store the sick, who are now occupying a great number of litters. Some days have elapsed, however, and we are not quite ready for the start yet. And during that time, con tinual parties of the Pawnee Picts and Kioways have come up ; and also Camanchees, from other villages, to get a look at us, and many of them are volunteering to go in with us to the frontier. " The world who know me, will see that I can scarcely be idle under such circumstances as these, where so many subjects for my brush and my pen are gathering about me." " The Pawnee Picts, Kioways, and Wicos are the subjects that I am most closely scanning at this moment; and I have materials enough around me. " The Pawnee Picts are undoubtedly a numerous and powerful tribe, occupying, with the Kioways and Wicos, the whole country on the head waters of the Red River, and quite into and through the southern part of the Rocky Mountains. The old chief told me by signs, enumerating with his hands and fingers, that they had altogether three thousand warriors; which if true, estimating according to the usual rule, one warrior to four, would make the whole number about twelve thousand; and, allowing a fair per centage for boasting or bragging, of which they are generally a little guilty in such cases, there would be at a fair calculation from eight to ten thousand. These then, in an established alliance with the great tribe of Caman chees, hunting and feasting together, and ready to join in common defence of their country become a very formidable enemy when attacked on their own ground. " The name of the Pawnee Picts, \ve find to be in their CATLIN'S NARRATIVE. 255 own language, Tow-ee-ahge, the meaning of which I have not yet learned. I have ascertained also, that these people are in no way related to the Pawnees of the Platte, who reside a thousand miles or more north of them, and know them only as enemies. There is no family or tribal re semblance; nor any in their language or customs. The Pawnees of the Platte shave the head, and the Pawnee Picts abominate the custom ; allowing their hair to grow like the Camanchees and other tribes. " The old chief of the Pawnee Picts, of whom I have be fore spoken, and whose name is We-ta-ra-sha-ro, is un doubtedly a very excellent and kind hearted old man, of ninety or more years of age, and has consented to ac company us, with a large party of his people, to Fort Gibson; where Colonel Dodge has promised to return him liberal presents from the Government, for the friendship he has evinced on the present occasion. "The second chief of this tribe, Sky-se-ro-ka, we found to be a remarkably clever man, and much approved and valued in his tribe. "The Pawnee Picts, as well as the Camanchees, are generally a very clumsy and ordinary looking set of men, when on their feet ; but being fine horsemen, are equally improved in appearance as soon as they mount upon their horses' backs. "Amongst the women of this tribe, there were many that were exceedingly pretty in feature and in form ; and also in expression, though their skins are very dark. The dress of the men in this tribe, as amongst the Camanchees, consists generally in leggings of dressed skins, and mocassins ; with a flap or breech clout, made also of dressed skins or furs, and often very beautifully ornamented with shells, &c. Above the waist they seldom wear any drapery, owing to the warmth of the climate, which will rarely justify it ; and their heads are generally uncovered with a head-dress, like the Northern tribes who live in a colder climate, and actually require them for comfort. " The women of the Camanchees and Pawnee Picts, are 256 CATLIN'S NARRATIVE. always decently and comfortably clad, being covered generally with a gown or slip, that reaches from the chin quite down to the ancles, made of deer or elk skins ; often garnished very prettily, and ornamented with long fringes of elk's teeth, which are fastened on them in rows, and more highly valued than any other ornament they can put upon them." Brian. That is a very interesting account. Is Mr. Catlin a painter ? Hunter. Yes. He passed several years in travelling among the different tribes of Western Indians, and brought away many pictures which he painted from the life, repre senting their chiefs and warriors and their modes of life, as well as a most valuable collection of arms, dresses, views of scenery &c., which he is now exhibiting in London. His estimate of the Indian character is more favourable than that of any other traveller who has visited them, and his opportunities of observation were excellent. Note. At the head of this chapter is placed an Indian portrait. It represents Wah-Menitu, a Teton, who was a visitor to the encampment of travellers near Fort Pierre on the Teton River, where he was met by Maximilian, Prince of Wied, who thus describes him in his splendid, " Travels in the Interior of North America." " We received a visit from six or seven newly arrived Tetons, whom the interpreter, Dorion, introduced to us. They were particularly in terested by the steam-boat, and, after they had very minutely examined it, they were served with dinner and pipes. The dinner chiefly con- s-lsted of bacon, which the Indians do not like ; they, however, swallowed it, in order that they might not appear uncourteous. Among them was a Teton, named Wah-Menitu (the spirit, or god, in the water,) who had such a voracious appetite, that'he devoured every thing which the others had 'left ; his face was painted red ; he had a remarkably projecting upper lip, and an aquiline nose much bent. In his hair, which hung in disorder about his head, with a plait coming over one of his eyes or . nose, the feather of a bird of prey was placed horizontally ; but he ob served that he had a right to wear three. Mr. Bodmer who desired to draw this man's portrait, gave him some vermilion, on which he spat, and rubbed his face with it, drawing parallel lines in the red color, with a wooden stick. Wah-Menitu stayed on board for the night; sung, talked, laughed, and joked without ceasing; and seemed quite to enjoy himself." MISSIONARY AND INDIANS. CHAPTER XVIII. Buffalo hunt American Board of Missions The United Brethren The Church Missionary Society The Wesley an Missionary Socie ty The American Presbyterian Board of Missions The American Baptist Missions The American Methodist Missionary Society Stations, schools, missionaries, communicants, scholars, and hearers Missionary relations Conclusion. PON the next visit of the boys to the Hunter, Brian besought him to give them one more extract from Mr. Catlin's letters. He complied readily, by reading the following lively description of a buffalo hunt, taken from a letter dated at the mouth of the Yellow Stone River. " The several tribes of Indians inhabiting the regions of the Upper Missouri, and of whom I spoke in my last letter, are undoubtedly the finest looking, best equipped, and most beautifully costumed of any on the Continent. They live in a country well-stocked with buffaloes and 2 H 22* 257 258 BUFFALO HUNT wild-horses, which furnish them ,n excellent and easy living ; their atmosphere is pure, which produces good health and long life ; and they are the most independent and the happiest races of Indians I have met with : they are all entirely in a state of primitive wildness, and conse quently are picturesque and handsome, almost beyond de scription. Nothing in the world, of its kind, can possibly surpass in beauty and grace, some of their games and amusements their gambols and parades, of which I shall speak and paint hereafter. " As far as my travels have yet led me into the Indian country, I have more than realized my former predictions that those Indians who could be found most entirely in a state of nature, with the least knowledge of civilized society, would be found to be the most cleanly in their per sons, elegant in their dress and manners, and enjoying life to the greatest perfection. Of such tribes, perhaps the Crows and Blackfeet stand first ; and no one would be able to appreciate the richness and elegance (and even taste too,) with which some of these people dress, without seeing them in their own country. I will do all I can, however, to make their looks as well as customs known to the world ; I will paint with my brush and scribble with my pen, and bring their plumes and plumage, dresses, weapons, &c.,and every thing but the Indian himself, to prove to the world the assertions which I have made above. " Every one of these red sons of the forest (or rather of the prairie) is a knight and lord his squaws are his slaves ; the only things which he deems worthy of his exertions are to mount his snorting steed, with his bow and quiver slung, his arrow shield upon his arm, and his long lance glistening in the war parade ; or, divested of all his plumes and trap pings, armed with a simple bow and quiver, to plunge his steed amongst the flying herds of buffaloes, and with his sinewy bow, which he seldom bends in vain, to drive deep to life's fountain the whizzing arrow. "The buffalo herds, which graze in almost countless BUFFALO HUNT. 259 numbers on these beautiful prairies, afford them an abun dance of meat ; and so much is it preferred to all other, that the deer, the elk, and the antelope sport upon the prairies in the greatest security ; as the Indians seldom kill them, unless they want their skin for a dress. The buffalo (or more correctly speaking bison) is a noble animal, that roams over the vast prairies, from the borders of Mexico on the south, to Hudson's Bay on the north. Their size is somewhat above that of our common bullock, and their flesh of a delicious flavour, resembling and equalling that of fat beef. Their flesh which is easily procured, furnishes the savage of these vast regions, the means of a wholesome and good subsistence, and thay live almost exclusively upon it converting the skins, horns, hoofs and bones, to the construction of dresses, shields, bows, &c. The buffalo bull is one of the most formidable and frightful looking animals in the world when excited to resistance ; his long shaggy mane hangs in great profusion over his neck and shoulders and often extends quite down to the ground. The cow is less in stature, and less ferocious ; though not much less wild and frightful in her appearance. " The mode in which these Indians kill this noble animal is spirited and thrilling in the extreme ; and I must in a future epistle give you a minute account of it. I have almost daily accompanied parties of Indians to see the fun, and have often shared in it myself; but much oftener ran my horse by their sides to see how the thing was done to study the modes and expressions of these splendid scenes, which I am industriously putting upon the canvass. " They are all (or nearly so) killed with arrows and the lance, while at full speed; and the reader may easily imagine, that these scenes afford the most spirited and pic turesque views of the sporting kind that can possibly be seen. " At present, I will give a little sketch of a bit of fun I joined in yesterday, with Mr. M'Kenzie and a number of his men, without the company or aid of Indians. 260 BUFFALO HUNT. "I mentioned the other day that'M'Kenzie's table from day to day groans under the weight of buffalo tongues and beavers' tails, and other luxuries of this western land. He has within his Fort a spacious ice-house, in which he pre serves his meat fresh for any length of time required ; and sometimes, when his larder runs low, he starts out, rallying some five or six of his best hunters (not to hunt, but to ' go for meat.') He leads the party, mounted on his favourite buffalo horse (i. e, the horse amongst his whole group which is best trained to run the buffalo,) trailing a light and short gun in his hand, such a one as he can most easily reload whilst his horse is at full speed. " Such was the condition of the ice-house yesterday morning, which caused these self-catering gentlemen to cast their eyes with a wishful look over the prairies ; and such was the plight in which our host took the lead, and I, and then Mons. Chardon, and Ba'tiste Defonde and Tullock (who is a trader amongst the Crows, and is here at this time, with a large party of that tribe,) and there were several others whose names I do not know. "As we were mounted and ready to start, M'Kenzie called up some four or five of his men, and then told them to follow immediately on our trail, with as many one-horse carts, which they were to harness up, to bring home the meat ; ( ferry them across the river in the scow,' said he, c and following our trail through the bottom, you will find us on the plain yonder, between the Yellow Stone arid Missouri rivers, with meat enough to load you home. My watch on yonder bluff has just told us by his signals, that there are cattle plenty on that spot, and we are going there as fast as possible.' We all crossed the river, and galloped away a couple of miles or so, when we mounted the bluff ; and to be sure, as was said, there was in full view of us a fine herd of some four or five hundred buffa loes, perfectly at rest, and in their own estimation (probably) perfectly secure. Some were grazing, and others were lying down and sleeping ; we advanced within a mile or so BUFFALO HUNT. 261 of them in full view, and came to a halt. Mons. Chardon < tossed the feather' (a custom always observed, to try the course of the wind,) and we commenced ' stripping' as it is termed (i. e. every man strips himself and his horse of extraneous and unnecessary appendage of dress, &c., that might be an incumbrance in running :) hats are laid off, and coats and bullet pouches; sleeves are rolled up, a hankerchief tied tightly around the head, and another around the waist cartridges are prepared and placed in the waistcoat pocket, or a half dozen bullets 'throwed into the mouth,' &c., &c., all of which takes some ten or fifteen minutes, and is not, in appearance or effect, unlike a council of war. Our leader lays the whole plan of the chase, and preliminaries all fixed, guns charged and ram rods in our hands, we mount and start for the onset. The horses are all trained for this business, and seem to enter into it with as much enthusiasm, and with as restless a spirit as the riders themselves. While < stripping' and mounting, they exhibit the most restless impatience ; and when < approaching' (which is, all of us abreast, upon a slow walk, and ifi a straight line towards the herd, until they discover us and run,) they all seem to have caught entirely the spirit of the chase, for the laziest nag amongst them prances with an elasticity in his step champing his bit his ears erect his eyes strained out of his head, and fixed upon the game before him, whilst he trembles under the saddle of his rider. In this way we carefully and silently marched, until within some forty or fifty rods j when the herd discovering us, wheeled and laid their course in a mass. At this instant we started ! (and all must start, for no one could check the fury of those steeds at that moment of excitement,) and away all sailed, and over the prairie flew, in a cloud of dust which was raised by their trampling hoofs. M'Kenzie was foremost in the throng, and soon dashed off amidst the dust and was out of sight he was after the fattest and the fastest. I had discovered a huge bull whose shoulders towered above the whole band, and 1 262 BUFFALO HUNT. picked my way through the whole crowd to get alongside of him. I went not for 'meat,' but for a trophy ; I wanted his head and horns. I dashed along through the thundering mass, as they swept away over the plain, scarcely able to tell whether I was on a buffalo's back or my horse hit, and hooked, and jostled about, till at length I found myself alongside of my game, when I gave him a shot, as I passed him. I saw guns flash in several direc tions about me, but I heard them not. Amidst the tramp ling throng, Mons. Chardon had wounded a stately bull, and at this moment was passing him again with his piece levelled for another shot ; they were both at full speed and I also, within the reach of the muzzle of my gun, when the bull instantly turned and receiving the horse upon his horns, and the ground received poor Chardon, who made a frog's leap of some twenty feet or more over the bull's back, and almost under my horse's heels. I wheeled my horse as soon as possible and rode back, where lay poor Chardon, gasping to start his breath again ; and within a few paces of him his huge victim, with his heels high in the air, and the horse lying across him. I dismounted instantly, but Chardon was raising himself on his hands, with his eyes full of dirt, and feeling for his gun, which lay about thirty feet in advance of him. ' Heaven spare you! are you hurt, Chardon?' <hi hie hie hie hie hie no, hie no no, I believe not. Oh ! this is not much, Mons. Cataline this is nothing new but this is a hard piece of ground here hie oh ! hie !' At this the poor fellow fainted, but in a few moments arose, picked up his gun, took his horse by the bit ; which then opened its eyes, and with a hie and a ugh UGHK ! sprang upon its feet shook off the dirt and here we were, all upon our legs again, save the bull, whose fate had been more sad than that of either. " I turned my eyes in the direction where the herd had gone, and our companions in pursuit, and nothing could be 263 BUFFALO HUNT. 265 seen of them, nor indication, except the cloud of dust which they left behind them. At a little distance on the right, however, I beheld my huge victim endeavouring to make as much head-way as he possibly could, from this dangerous ground, upon three legs. I gallopped off to him, and at my approach he wheeled around and bristled up for battle ; he seemed to know perfectly well that he could not escape from me, and resolved to meet his enemy and death as bravely as possible. " I found that my shot had entered him a little too far forward, breaking one of his shoulders, and lodging in his breast, and from his very great weight it was, impossible for him to make much advance upon me. As I rode up within a few paces of him he would bristle up with fury enough in his looks alone, almost to annihilate me ; and making one lunge at me, would fall upon his neck and nose, so that I found the sagacity of my horse alone enough to keep me out of reach of danger : and I drew from my pocket my sketch-book, laid my gun across my lap, and commenced taking his likeness. He stood stiffened up, and swelling with awful vengeance, which was sublime for a picture, but which he could not vent upon me. I rode around him and sketched him in numerous attitudes, some times he would lie down, and I would then sketch him then throw my cap at him, and rousing him on his legs, rally a new expression, and sketch him again. " In this way I added to my sketch-book some invaluable sketches of this grim-visaged monster, who knew not that he was standing for his likeness. " No man on earth can imagine what is the look and ex pression of such a subject before him as this was. I defy the world to produce another animal that can look so frightful as a huge buffalo bull, when wounded as he was, turned around for battle, and swelling with rage ; his eyes bloodshot, and his long shaggy mane hanging to the ground, his mouth open, and his horrid rage hissing in streams of smoke and 21 23 266 BUFFALO HUNT. blood from his mouth and through his nostrils, as he is bending forward to spring upon his assailant. " After I had had the requisite time and opportunity for using my pencil/M'Kenzie and his companions came walking their exhausted horses back from the chase, and in our rear came four or five carts to carry home the meat. The party met from all quarters around me and my buffalo bull, whom I then shot in the head and finished. And being seated together for a few minutes, each one took a smoke of the pipe, and recited his exploits, and his < coups' or deaths ; when all parties had a hearty laugh at me, as a novice, for having aimed at an old bull, whose flesh was not suitable for food, and the carts were escorted on the trail to bring away the meat. I rode back with Mr. M'Kenzie, who pointed out five cows which he had killed, and all of them selected as the fattest and sleekest of the herd. This aston ishing feat was all performed within the distance of one mile all were killed at full speed, and every one shot through the heart. In the short space of time required for a horse under < full whip,' to run the distance of one mile he had discharged his gun five, and loaded it four times selected his animals, and killed at every shot ! There were six or eight others killed at the same time, which altogether furnished, as will be seen, abundance of freight for the carts; which returned, as well as several packhorses, loaded with the choicest parts which were cut from the animals, and the remainder of the carcasses left a prey for the wolves. " Such is the mode by which white men live in this country such is the way in which they get their food, and such is one of their delightful amusements at the hazard of every bone in one's body, to feel the fine and thrilling exhilaration of the chase for a moment, and then as often to upbraid and blame himself for his folly and imprudence. " From this scene we commenced leisurely wending our way back; and dismounting at the place were we had stripped, each man dressed himself again, or slung his BUFFALO HUNT. 267 extra articles of dress, &c., across his saddle, astride of which he sat ; and we rode back to the Fort, reciting as we rode, and for twenty -four hours afterwards, deeds of chivalry and chase, and hair's-breadth escapes which each and either had fought and run on former occasions. M'Kenzie, with all the true character and dignity of a leader, was silent on these subjects ; but smiled, while those in his train were reciting for him the astonishing and tdmost incredible deeds of his sinewy arms, which they had witnessed in similar scenes ; from which I learned (as well as from my own observations,) that he was reputed (and actually was) the most distinguished of all the white men who have flourished in these regions, in the pursuit of the buffalo. On our return to the Fort, an entertainment was set forth upon the table, and around it a half dozen parched throats were soon moistened, and good cheer ensued. Ba'tiste Defonde, Chardon, &c., retired to their quarters, enlarging smoothly upon the events of our morning's work ; which they were reciting to their wives and sweethearts ; when about this time the gate of the Fort was thrown open, and the procession of carts and packhorses laden with buffalo meat made its entree ; gladdening the hearts of a hundred women and children, and tickling the noses of as many hungry dogs and puppies, who were stealing in and smelling at the tail of the procession. The door of the ice- house was thrown open, the meat was discharged into it, and I being fatigued, went to sleep." In their early interviews with the hunter Austin Ed wards and his brothers thought of little else than of bluffs and prairies, buffaloes, bears, and beavers, warlike Red Indian chiefs, and the spirit-stirring adventures of savage life ; but the last visit paid to the cottage had considerably sobered their views. The hunter had gradually won his way into their affections, by contributing largely to their amusement ; and he had, also, secured their respect and high opinion, by his serious remarks. They had no doubt of his being a true friend to Red Indians, and they had. 269 STATISTICS OP MISSIONS. on that account, listened the more attentively to what he had advanced on the subject of missionaries. The know ledge that they were about to hear the end of the hunter's relation, though it hung a little heavy on their spirits, dis posed them to seriousness and attention. u And now," said the hunter, as soon as Austin, Brian, and Basil had expressed the pleasure afforded them by the extract read from Mr. Catlings letter, " I will give you the best statement I can, in a few words, of the number of people who are employed among the Red Indians in the missionary cause." *ftustin. Yes ; we shall like to hear that very well. Hunter. The American Board of Missions, (as stated in the Missionary Register, May, 1842,) has among the Indians twenty -five stations, twenty-three missionaries, two medical missionaries, three native preachers, two physicians, and fifteen male assistants. The United Brethren have a congregation at New Fairfield, Upper Canada ; another at Westfield, on the Missouri ; and a third in Arkansas, among the Cherokees. The Church Missionary Society has four stations connected with the Red River settlement, three missionaries, a catechist, and seven schoolmasters. The Wesleyan Missionary Society has ninety-two missiona ries, forty-eight catechists and readers, ten salaried and jj. seven hundred gratuitous teachers; but these are chiefly employed among the Europeans, though at least a thousand Indians are connected with the mission in Upper Canada. Missions are also established in the Hudson's Bay Com pany's territories. The American Presbyterian Board of Missions has one missionary and one teacher among the Chippeway and Ottowa Indians ; and a missionary and two catechists among the Iowa and Sac Indians. The Amer ican Baptist Missions have thirteen stations, and some out- stations; twelve missionaries and teachers, two teachers, one female teacher, and twenty -three assistants, of whom eleven are native Indians. The American Methodist Missionary Society has sixty-eight missionaries and assistants connected ANECDOTE OP INDIAN CONVERT. 269 with the mission to the Oregon Indians, twenty-five of whom are aboriginal missionaries : at least a thousand natives here have renounced heathenism. The missionaries of the American Board of Missions, of whom I first spoke, are engaged among the Cherokees, Choctaws, Pawnees, Ore- gons, Sioux, Ojibbeways, Stockbridge Indians, New York Indians, and Abenaquis. Perhaps, in all the North Amer ican Missions, there may be more than a hundred stations ; more than a hundred missionaries ; more than seven hun dred schools ; more than a thousand teachers ; more than five thousand communicants ; more than forty thousand scholars; and more than seventy thousand attendants on public worship. Having given you this general summary, suppose I oifer you a few particulars from the statements of some of the missionaries. Austin. Yes ; that will do very well. Hunter. We cannot tell in what way it may please God to convert the heathen to Christianity ; but the most likely way appears to be by means of schools, for in them the word of God is made known to the young. Brian. Ay; there are seven hundred schools among them. Hunter. The following is an affecting instance of sin cerity and earnestness in religion, on the part of a Red Indian. One of the missionaries of the Church Missionary Society, writes thus from the Red River : " Returned home in company with a native, whose son had gone a long journey, near to the Rocky Mountains. I was delighted to find that he had sent his son off, with the most pressing in junction that he would pray to God at least twice every day, and read the Bible as often as he had an opportunity He said, 'My son, as long as you have been in my house you have seen me pray : let this put you in mind that there is a Being whom we cannot see, who gives us all things. You go to church: there you hear that this great Being, whom wicked men hate and are afraid of, is love. When you go through the plains, you will not see me praying; 23* 270 CONDUCT OF CHRISTIAN INDIANS. you will no* hear that God is love. There you will meet with men whose hearts are cruel ; who will stand up against you ; who have no pity: they would drive an arrow through your heart; they would take your scalp from your head, and drink your blood. My son, when night comes on, be fore you close your eyes, ask Him who draws the darkness round you to look and pity you, and spread his hand over you ; for you are alone, far from home, and have no other friend but Him. When morning comes, and your eyes first see the light, thank the Best of all beings for his pro tection ; and ask Him to go with you on your journey, to turn men who have bad hearts on one side, that they may not meet you. Should you be in danger, never forget that the blood of Jesus Christ cleanse th from all sin. Trust in it : God has accepted of it as the sacrifice for your soul ; and, through this, you and I may meet in heaven.' The father said to me : < My heart was light and happy, when I saw my son take his Bible and some tracts; and when he squeezed my hand, with the tears in his eyes, and said, I will remember Him who is over us all, till I meet you again.'" Jlustin. That is a very striking anecdote. I like the native Indian, and his son too. Hunter. "When the Christian Indians are out on a hunting excursion, they usually spend the Lord's day to gether, and abstain entirely from the chase. One reads the church service to the others who assemble; and, after singing, they all talk over what they remember of the word of God, taught them either in church or in school. The hunters are never absent on a Lord's day, when it can be avoided : they, for the most part, contrive to come in on the Saturday evening, and go away on the Monday morning." Austin. They act just as if they remembered the words, " Remember the sabbath day to keep it holy." Hunter. The missionary goes on to say : " I have to-day attended a general assembly of the Saulteaux Indians, con vened by their chief, Pigwys, for the purpose of urging INTERVIEW WITH THE SAULTEAUX. 271 upon them the importance of becoming Christians. After I had complied with their custom, by presenting each of the men with a small piece of tobacco, they seated themselves in a circle, and I, with the chief and my interpreter, took our station in the centre. I addressed them at some length, setting before them, in as plain terms as I was able, the leading doctrines of the gospel, commencing with the fall, and the consequent corruption of human nature. I then proceeded to tell them of the plan of redemption devised by Infinite Mercy for the recovery of fallen man, through the merits and death of the Saviour ; and urged upon them the importance of forsaking their heathen practices, and re ceiving the gospel of Christ ; assuring them that there was " none other name under heaven given among men, where by we must be saved," Acts iv. 12. I was followed by. the chief, Pigwys, in a speech which occupied nearly an hour, delivered with great energy, emphasis, and eloquence. He begged them to attend to the advice I had been giving, to give up their children to the school, and to come to church themselves. He ?lso told them, that, in addition to the prospect of happiness in the next life, he lived far more comfortably now "than he did when a heathen : his mind was at peace, and his worldly circumstances were much better. Such, alas ! is the indifference, I may say prejudice, of the Saulteaux Indians towards Christianity, that though the assembly consisted of nearly the whole tribe, not one expressed a desire for instruction, nor did we get the promise of more than three children for the school, and I doubt if these will be sent. As, however, God has disposed the hearts of the Muscaigoes to receive the gospel, we trust he will, in due time, work for his own glory among the Saul teaux. Till then, let us labour with patience and perseve rance, in humble dependence upon Him." Basil. I think the missionaries are good men, and do all the good they can among the Red Indians. Hunter. No doubt they do ; but there are many of the tribes on which very little impression has been made. 272 VISIT TO A SICK INDIAN. Indians, who have seen every thing evil among white men traders, are apt to look on all white men with suspicion ; and then, the superstitions in which they have been brought up have a strong hold on them. Basil. Please to tell us more about the missionaries. Hunter. Listen, then, to an account of a missionary vis iting the sick. " I went to see a sick Indian, whom I bap tized last January. I reminded him of the promises which he made when he was baptized, and asked if he were still determined to put his full trust in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, depending upon his merits alone. He answered, with some emphasis, ' Yes.' I then exhorted him to keep his feet firm upon that Rock of all our hopes ; assuring him, that if he were depending upon Christ, though -he might have but little knowledge of the word of God, he would find himself safe." Brian. Poor sick Indian ! Hunter. " Having said as much to him as I deemed ad visable in his present exhausted state for I more than once thought him expiring while I ^:as talking I asked if he particularly wished to say any thing to me. His voice was now scarcely audible ; but his wife, putting her ear to his mouth, said, f He asks you to baptize his child, and let him be taught the word of God, that he may come to him in the next world.' " Basil. Then he really did hope to go to heaven. Hunter. " I said, ' If the child be given up to us, of course we shall instruct him in the school, and, in due course, he will be baptized. Ask him if that is satisfactory.' lie said, < Yes ; but it is now too young to leave its mother : may it stay with her till it is old enough to go to school ?' ' Basil. That was very thoughtful of him. Hunter. " Feeling deeply affected at the considerate ten derness of this request, I could scarcely repress the tear, as I said, ( Yes ; it may.' I then exhorted him to cast him self upen the mercy of God through our Lord Jesus Christ ; and told him I would call upon God in prayer, that he DEATH OP A CHRISTIAN INDIAN. 273 might be supported in the last trying scene, and be con ducted in safety to that heavenly inheritance which I trusted was reserved for him in the world .above. While I was kneeling by the dying man, commending his soul to God in prayer, the pealing thunder, together with the rain falling upon the bark which covered the tent, rendered my voice inaudible. It was, indeed, a solemn scene." Austin. That must have been solemn indeed ! Hunter. " I again visited the sick Indian, and found him sinking rapidly. I asked him if he still felt comfort in rest ing upon the merits of Christ. He feebly articulated, < Yes;' and appeared desirous of saying more ; but his voice failed, and he fell back, evidently in the agonies of death." Basil. Ay ; I dare say he died then. Hunter. " I was deeply grieved to hear his father giving utterance to expressions which must have both distressed and disturbed the dying man. Among other things, he said to me, < You talk about your God being so good and power ful ; yet there is my son lying, and you are not able to obtain any help for him from your God.' I told hfm that I trusted our God, to whom his son had given himself, was about to take him to a place of happiness, , where he would dwell for ever, be no more sick, nor suffer hunger, thirst, *br pain ; and that the afflictions which had been laid upon him were intended to make him repent of his past sins, and trust in the Saviour, in order that he might be made fit for heaven. I then endeavoured to show the old man how awful it was for him to be so completely given up to the devil, and so bent upon doing his drudgery, as even to disturb the dying moments of his son. I told him that unless he under went great change, he would very soon be separated from his son for ever ; and I could only pray that his eyes might be opened, before he found himself in hell. Having com mended the dying man to God, I left the tent ; and had not been long at home, when a person came to tell me that he had expired." *S 874 MISSIONARIES. Basil. I thought he would die. I wish his father had known better. Hunter. "I sent Mr. Cook to make arrangements for burying the body ; but he returned, saying, that they wished it to be taken away at once. I was, therefore, com pelled to send my servant to carry the corpse to the church till a coffin conld be made. The Indian custom is to bury the dead as quickly as possible ; and so strong is their aver sion to see the change which the last enemy produces on the countenance, that it is the practice, as soon as the person has expired, for the relatives to paint his face red, that the change may not be seen, even during the few hours occu pied in making the grave. They then put upon the deceased all his ornaments, and wrap the body in a blanket, together with his hunting and fishing implements. Having placed it in the grave, in a sitting posture, and covered it with earth, they sit in a circle round the grave for about an hour, smoking their pipes ; after which some one makes a speech, and then they retire. All the Christian Indians are, of course, buried in the churchyard, after the European custom ; and when any die who have not Christian relatives to bury them, the task falls upon us, as in this case. I do not know how I am to get this poor man buried ; for all the men able to give any assistance are now away, and I have only one Indian boy with me in the house ; as my principal servant, who alone could have been of any service to me, is sick at Grand Rapids." Brian. How could the missionary bury him ? Hunter. "I was compelled to set to work this morning, with two Indian boys, to make a coffin for the man who died yesterday. We finished it by noon, and the boys having put the body into it, they placed it in the grave. After I had read the service, they filled in the earth ; and thus we finished our disagreeable duty without any assistance/' Austin. What an odd thing, for the missionary to be obliged to make a coffin ! MUSCAIGO SCHOOL-BOYS. 275 Hunter. There are few things that conscientious mission aries are not ready to do, for the souls and bodies of those under their care. It is natural enough that young people should like better to hear an exciting account of Indian manners and customs, of famous warriors, of wild horses, of bear and buffalo hunts, and of Indian games and dances, than to listen to a quiet recital of missionary efforts ; but remember, that Red Indian robes, war clubs, and toma hawks, bravery in war, and skill in the chase, will not pre pare an Indian for death, and still less for eternity. We are to live after this life has passed away ; and red men and white men require a hope on which they can rely. Both have sinned, and both stand in need of a Saviour. To make that Saviour known, is the first, the chief object of the missionary. Austin. Every one ought to love the missionary. Hunter. The Red Indians, just in proportion as they love hunting and fighting, dislike agricultural labour ; yet you will see, by a few extracts from Mr. Smithurst's register, that, by degrees, young Indians brought up in schools may be taught to work as well as the whites. Mr. Smithurst, who is among the Indians on the Red River, under the direction of the Church Missionary Society, says, " I to-day visited the Saulteaux settlement. When I was down a fortnight ago, I told the school children, with a view of encouraging them, that I wanted forty loads of hay ; and, if they would make it for me, I would pay them as Mr. Cockran had paid the Muscaigoes. From the prejudice of this tribe to every thing like farming, I never expected that they would get the whole ; but they have been assisted by their heathen relatives, and to-day I found them making the last stack : they have got at least sixty loads. This is very gratifying, as it shows that a great change is taking place. The experience of this settlement has hitherto proved that Indian prejudice first gives way with respect to our mode of living, and then with respect to our religion. A willing ness to settle in a house, and cultivate the ground, opens 276 INDIANS TAUGHT AGRICULTURE. the way for religious instruction, as it keeps the Indian where this is to be obtained." ftustin. Red Indians making hay ! Who would ever have thought to see Red Indian hay-makers ! Hunter. Mr. Smithurst goes on thus : " On my return home, I got a number of Muscaigo school-boys, arid set them to reap barley. Having never seen them reap, I was a little curious to see how they would get along when to my surprise, I found them to proceed with all the regularity of Europeans. Indeed, I am quite sure that I could not have taken an equal number of children of the same age out of a school, even in the most agricultural district of England, who would have done so well. None of them are more than twelve, and two are only nine years old." Brian. Those Muscaigo boys were fine lads. Hunter. " I have now," says Mr. Smithurst, a .number of the Indians clearing ground. It is necessary for us thus to employ them, that they may be able to get clothing for the winter. There is nothing, so far as temporal things are concerned, which they need to learn so much as industry. My rule is, never to give the Christian Indians any thing, unless they work for it ; except in cases of old age or sick ness. They are now very willing to work ; but it is neces sary that I should be almost always with them, which is rather a heavy task upon me. " I, this morning, set an Indian to plough ; but, when I went to see how he got on, I found that he had missed just as much as he had ploughed I was. therefore obliged to do it myself. There are now a number of Indians who can plough well ; but tney are engaged on their own farms, and I do not wish to ask them to come to me. I must always have a succession of learners, and bear with the inconvenience. " I have been to the Saulteaux settlement to-day, superin tending the sowing of the little patches belonging to the Indians of that tribe. I was pleased to see them taking a much greater interest in the matter this year than last. I should be doubly gratified, if I could but see them a little ANECDOTE OF AN INDIAN BOY. 277 more anxious after religious instruction. We must, however, wait God's time." Austin. I can hardly fancy Indian boys ploughing and sowing like farmers. Hunter. Mr. West, from the 'same station on the Red River, writes thus : " Well do I remember Withaweecapo bringing his son to me in his arms, as I sat in the boat wait ing for him, to start many hundred miles from York Facto ry to the Red River ; and, as he parted with his boy, with tears of affection, saying, 'There, I give you my son, to teach as you say, because I think you will take care of him, and will treat him as a father. But I shall come and see my boy.' Fourteen years after, it seems, he undertook th " journey, many hundred miles, to visit his boy. This brought him under Christian instruction; and, God be praised ! there is good hope to believe that he was led to embrace Christ Jesus as his Lord, and to live in obedience to his gospel, so that he died a true Christian. How cheer ing is this statement ! His widow is one of my Indian congregation, and a communicant ; and all their children, seven in number, are Christians ! P-^**^ OJ ;. LJbHffW "What encouragement is there, amidst all discourage ments, to prosecute Christian missions ! Let us therefore persevere, and faint not ; for in due season a rich harvest shall be reaped, to the great glory of the Lord." Brian. Withaweecapo did not forget his boy, though he was away so long. Hunter. Mr. West continues in this manner : " This morning, one of the Musciago school-boys, about twelve years old, brought two birds, and desired my servant to ask if I would have them. I found they had been stuffed, though certainly not in a first-rate style. I asked what he wished to have for them, and the answer was, <Ariy thing you please to give.' I was sufficiently acquainted with the Indian character to know that he had not brought the birds without having some distinct object in view ; and I there fore said, 'Tell him I don't know what to give him: he 24 278 SPEECH OF AN OLD INDIAN. must say himself what he would like to have.' He could not, he said, expect to have what he wanted in return for the birds, as he wanted a Common Prayer Book ; but if I would let him have the book, when I wanted any one to work he would come. The English of the whole was simply this: His mind was so set upon obtaining the Prayer Book, that he brought the birds to get into favour with me, thinking that I should not refuse him the book on credit, till he could work for it." Austin. That boy really wanted th.e Prayer Book. Hunter. The last extract that 1 shall give you from Mr. West, is as follows: "I was much pleased this evening, in a conversation with one of the Muscaigo school-boys. He had been working on the mission farm a month, during the seed-time, for which I paid him twelve shillings. Wishing to know how he had spent it, I said, * What did you do with the money I gave you?' 'I took it to the store.' ' Well, what did you buy?' 'The shirt I have on.' 'Well, that cost four shillings ; what more did you purchase ?' ' White cotton.' ' What are you going to do with that ?' 'Have a Sunday shirt.' ' Well, that is very good ; but what else did you buy?' 'A pair of shoes.' 'Yes, those three things cost nine shillings ; what did you do with the rest ?' 'Gave it to my father.' 'Well, that is just what you ought to do. You know the word of God says, Honour thy father and thy mother. I trust that you will always remember, that it is your duty to help them. I hope the other boys will do the same, and then God will bless them.' This little inci dent affords one of the many proofs that we do not labour i vain. It was the first money the boy ever had, and not a fraction of it was misapplied." Brian. An English boy could not do better. Hunter. These anecdotes of Indian life, by describing the very acts and words of those among whom the mission aries are, seem to bring the people before you. In one of Mr. Cockran's journals, he says the language of an old Indian was, "I must go and take the opinion of the Black JOURNEY TO THE. ROCKY MOUNTAINS. 279 Coat, about our Indian ways and worship ; he says that the Master of life is displeased with us, because we will not listen to the message of his Son, who came from heaven and died to save us. I should not like to meet the Master of life angry. His winter storms and his summer storms terrify me. If he grow properly angry, I cannot stand be fore him." Austin. Poor old Indian! Properly angry that is a very expressive term. Hunter. The Indians have many expressive terms, and they are an interesting people. I will now give you a few extracts from the journal of Mr. Rundell, a missionary belonging to the Wesleyan Missions in the Hudson's Bay territories, being some of the last intelligence received respecting the Red Indians. Mr. Rundell travelled three thousand five hundred miles from New York to get to his station. He is the first Protestant missionary stationed in the far west, in the neighbourhood of the Rocky Moun tains. He says, "About seven o'clock, I started, in a dog- cariole, for the Fort Hunter's Camp, situated near Beaver Lake. The cariole was drawn by four dogs. It was a brilliant starlight night, with some faint glimmerings of the Aurora Borealis. The Beaver Hills extend for a long distance, and are in general covered with trees and shrubs, interspersed with small lakes. The scenery, during the summer months, must be very splendid : but I saw only the rude ravages of winter in the woods ; ice bound the lakes, and snow mantled the ground. In the forenoon, we surprised a herd of buffaloes on a small lake, and one of them slipped on the ice, and was soon stabbed to the heart. The cold was so severe at this time, that the blood froze about the instrument employed in cutting up the animal. I reached the camp in the afternoon; but the night was so intensely cold, that I could get but little sleep." Austin. He would look droll in his dog-cariole ! Hunter. " I reached Rocky Mountain House, and was 290 A BLOOD INDIAN CHIEF. very kindly received by J. H. Harriott, Esq., the gentleman in charge. I found several Indians at the fort, and, shortly after my arrival, another party arrived from the plains. Great warmth of feeling was expressed by them on seeing me. Their dresses were profusely adorned with beads and gay embroidery, with porcupine quills and other orna ments. Whilst I was saluting them, some kissed me ; others, after shaking me by the hand, passed both hands over part of my dress, uttering at the same time a kind of prayer; and others gave me their left hand, because nearest the heart." Brian. That is a very odd custom, to kiss the mis sionary. I should not much like it. Hunter. "A large party of Blackfeet and Peagans arrived ; and their entrance into the fort presented a very novel appearance. The first that came were the Peagans ; and the ceremony commenced with singing some rude and barbarous sounds. They then marched in order to the fort, the chief leading the van, bringing with him a horse, the head of which was striped with red ochre, as an intended present for Mr. Harriott; the chief entered the fort, followed by his party. The Blackfeet approached much in the same way, excepting that singing formed no part of the ceremony. Some of the chiefs' dresses looked very fine ; and the needlework on them would reflect no discredit on members of civilized communities. To-day a rumour spread amongst the Indians, that I came down from heaven in a piece of paper, and that the paper was opened by a gentleman belonging to the fort, and so I made my first appearance upon earth." Basil. I never heard a stranger thing ! Came down from heaven in a piece of paper ! Hunter. The < Big Wolf,' a Blood Indian chief, re quested last night that nothing might be said to him by me, against taking revenge on their enemies ; neither against the practice of sacrificing to the sun the tops of their fingers, previous to going to battle a custom common INTERVIEW WITH ASSINNEBOINS. 281 amongst them. He was determined, he said, to have revenge on the man that stabbed him some time before ; and affirmed, that the sacrifices offered to the sun would certainly insure success when warring with their enemies. He, however, expressed a wish to hear me. This Indian is one of the greatest warriors in all the tribes. He attend ed the service in the evening, and afterwards expressed his satisfaction with what he had heard." Austin. I am afraid the Indian's love of revenge will never be conquered. Hunter. What is hard with man is easy with God ; but I will go on with my extracts. " I gave advice to < Big Wolf,' in order to effect a reconciliation between him and the man towards whom he entertains such deadly hatred ; and tried to persuade him to drink no more liquor, as that was the cause of the affray. He listened attentively ; and I learned afterwards that this advice was not given in vain." Basil. Liquor seems to be the ruin of the Indians. Hunter. " The long-expected band of Rocky Mountain Crees, those whom I came especially to see, arrived this day, accompanied by a party "of Assinneboins. Soon after their arrival, I addressed them on the being of God, and on the creation and fall of man. A remark made by one of the Crees, after the service, is deserving of notice. He said, they resembled hungry young birds in a nest, when visited by the parent ; like the young birds, he said, they stood hungry with their mouths open, to be fed." Jlustin. Indians have the oddest way of speaking. Hunter. " I met many Indians in a large tent, fitted up for the occasion of my visit. I rode in the afternoon to an Assinneboin camp, situated at the distance of a few miles, and met with a very warm reception. Nearly all in the camp, I believe men, women, and children met me on my approach, to welcome my arrival. They all walked in procession, with their chief at their head ; and it was, indeed, a very interesting sight. Many of the children, I 282 DISAPPOINTMENT OF MISSIONARIES. observed, were carried on the backs of their mothers. The ceremony of shaking hands now took place, which I performed on horseback, and afterwards proceeded to the tent arranged for the service; and, under the rays of a bright and imcl'ouded sun, discoursed to them on the glories and beauties of the eternal Sun of righteousness." Brian. That custom of shaking hands must take up a long time among so many of them. Hunter. " It was from this hill that I obtained my best view of the Rocky Mountains. They presented the sub- limest spectacle that I ever expect to behold, until I become an inhabitant of 'the new heavens and the new earth.' Their pointed and snowy summits rose high into the hea vens, resembling the lofty spires of some vast and magnifi cent marble temple, and the scene was truly grand and imposing. In comparison with these Divine productions, all the works of art dwindle into insignificance. From their vast recesses, those great rivers flow which send forth their streams to the Atlantic, Pacific, and Arctic Oceans." Austin. Oh, that must be glorious scenery ! Hunter. " I reached Edmonton with no other injuries, thanks to a kind Providence, than two or three slight frost bites, and some indications of snow blindness, from the effects of which I recovered in about a week ; and thus ended my winter campaigns." Brian. I could listen an hour to such extracts as these. Hunter. Well; I have now told you pretty well about Red Indians, and must come to the end of my narrative. Great have been the difficulties of the missionaries, and many have been their disappointments. The Cherokees, Choctaws, Pawnees, Oregons, Sioux, and others, have none of them altogether realized the hopes which at different times, on their account have been entertained. The oppo sition of Papists, the wars that break out unexpectedly among the tribes, the reverence entertained by them for superstitious customs, their removals from one place to another, the natural indolence of Indians, and their love of EVENTUAL SPREAD OF THE GOSPEL. 283 spiritous liquors, called forth by white men in order to de ceive them, these and other causes are always at work, operating against the efforts of the missionary. I might it is true, give you more instances than I have done of an encouraging kind, respecting the Red Indians generally; but, perhaps, it will be better now to sum up the account by saying, the missionary is at work among them with some degree of success, and though from the remoteness of many of the tribes, their strong attachment to the supersti tions of their forefathers, and other causes already alluded to, the progress of Christianity is necessarily slow, there is no doubt that it will ultimately prevail ; the promise has gone forth, and will be fulfilled, the heathen will be the in heritance of the Redeemer, and the uttermost parts of the earth his possession. He who has clothed the arm of the red man with strength, shod his feet with swiftness, and filled his heart with courage, will, in due time, subdue his cruelty and revenge, open his eyes to discern the wondrous things of God's holy law, dispose his mind to acknowledge the Lord of life and glory, and make him willing to receive the gospel of the Redeemer. THE END.