[Maya Banks Highland Ever After
Sharif Garmon
THE fort of the Columbia Fur Company has been determined, by Mr. Colhoun, to be in latitude 45 39' 52" north, and in longitude 96 34' 30" west; the magnetic variation at this place amounts to 12 28' 50" east. The lake upon which it stands is about fifteen miles long; in breadth it scarcely exceeds one mile. It is the handsomest of the three lakes which we saw near the head of the St. Peter. It is incased more than one hundred feet below the adjoining prairies, but the valley in which it lies is about double the breadth of the lake itself, and is filled with large fragments of primitive rocks. A view of this lake has been given in the Frontispiece to volume second, it includes the Company's fort, the Indian lodges near it, and also a scaffold, upon which the remains of a Sioux had been
On leaving Lake Travers, our party was strengthened by the addition of Mr. Jeffries, one of the Company, who agreed to guide us to Pembina, and by four Frenchmen, who were returning to that place, with six carts which had been employed to convey the families and baggage of several Swiss emigrants, from the British settlements to the St. Peter. Of these carts, we chartered four to convey our baggage and provisions. As it was expected that, after having travelled forty miles, we should meet with no Dacotas, it was agreed that when Renville should have accompanied us that distance, he should be at liberty to return to the fort where business required his presence. Vague reports of large parties of Dacotas had been circulated for some days past, and a rumour that five hundred lodges of the Yanktoanan were collected on Shienne River, made us desirous of being accompanied by Wanotan, which
The first day of our journey was unpleasant; it was across dry prairies. We stopped to dine upon the banks of what is termed Mushtincha (Mushtincha) Watapan, (Hare River). At the time that we crossed it, the stream had disappeared; a little stagnant water, collected in hollows, offered but an unpleasant drink for ourselves and our horses. This valley is a mere trench in the prairie, into which the waters collect after heavy rains; it affords them a passage to the more permanent streams. Its bed is about fifteen yards wide. The woods became very scarce as we advanced, only a few points being seen at a distance; the plain upon which we were travelling was apparently boundless; it was covered with a short grass of a pale or yellowish-green hue. The eye of the mineralogist could not detect a single stone within a mile's travel, and the few that were observed during the day, were rolled and uninteresting. In some places pebbles were as abundant as if we had been travelling upon the bed of some former river or lake; the mind endeavours in vain to establish limits to the vast expanse of water, which certainly at some former day overflowed the whole of that country.
On the bluff which encloses the lake we saw a few small tumuli, the last that were observed by our party; we have not been able to hear of the existence of any to the north-west of this place. We have, therefore, during this expedition, traced these ancient Indian works from Irville in Ohio to the head of Red River, upon a distance of upwards of eight hundred miles in a direct line, and nearly double
The dullness of our morning ride was dissipated by the distant view of the buffalo grazing upon the prairie. We shall not attempt to depict the joy, which the first cry of "buffaloes in sight," created in the whole company; all were in activity. The practised hunters immediately gave chase to the buffaloes, and before sunset, three of these noble animals had been slain. We encamped early to enjoy what, to many of our party, was an entirely new scene. The spot which we were obliged to select, was utterly destitute of wood, and the only fuel which we could procure was the buffalo dung, which lay profusely scattered over the prairie. This made a fine warm fire, giving out no smell. The meat was cooked, and eaten with great delight. The party never were, perhaps, in greater spirits than during that evening. They considered themselves on their way home; for the first time they saw abundance of game before them, and a prospect of its continuance for a few days, whence they anticipated ample supplies of stores in the camp.
The spot of our encampment is called, both by Indians and traders, Buffalo Lake; it is only an extension of Lake Travers, being separated but by a marsh overgrown with high grass; through which a canoe can navigate at all times. It is immediately below this place that the lake assumes the characters of a stream, and receives the name of Sioux or Swan River. Mr. Colhoun endeavoured to determine the situation of this place, but a high southerly wind impeded his observations. Previous to encamping, we passed a party of squaws engaged in conveying to their camp some slices of fresh meat to jerk; their fellow-labourers were dogs. Each of the dogs had the ends of two poles crossed and fastened over the shoulders, with a piece of hide underneath to prevent chafing. The other extremities dragged
The next morning, as we proceeded, the buffaloes began to thicken before us; in every direction numbers of them were seen. They generally collected in herds of thousands together, keeping at a distance from us, though sometimes suffering us to approach very near to them, and, in some cases, indeed, running through our line of march. We stopped in the morning at a few Indian lodges, which we were pleased to find were those of our acquaintance Wanotan, the Yanktoanan chief. He invited us to partake of some fresh buffalo meat, which, being obtained from a fat Cow, far exceeded in quality that which we had tasted the preceding evening. Wanotan assured us, that, from the information he had obtained, he thought we should not meet with any Dacotas after passing the Bois des Sioux, a small grove at a distance, and beyond which we expected to encamp that night. Some of the gentlemen having expressed a desire to see the chief hunt the buffalo with his bow and arrow, he complied with their request. In the mean while, the body of the party continued their route, crossed the dry bed of Sioux River, and proceeded as far as the Boix des Sioux, where they formed their encampment at an early hour, owing to a very heavy and continued
The squaws at Wanotan's lodge were engaged in jerking the meat and dressing the skins which he had obtained. We had some curiosity to observe their mode of operating. The meat was cut up in thin and broad slices and exposed on poles, all round the lodge. Two days of exposure to a hot sun are sufficient to dry the meat so that it will keep. The skins are dressed in a very simple manner; the green skin is stretched on the ground by means of stakes driven through its edges; then with a piece of bone, sharpened to a cutting edge, about an inch wide, and similar to a chisel, the softer portions on the flesh side are scraped off, and with an instrument of iron similar to the bit of a carpenter's plane, the hair is removed from the outside. If the operation be interrupted here, the product is a sort of parchment; but if the skin be intended for mocassins or clothing, it is then worked with the hands in the brain of animals, which gives it the requisite degree of softness. In order to qualify it for
We observed that Wanotan used the common Sioux bow, not exceeding four feet in length; the arrows were proportional. At Wapasha's some of the party observed a bow of from five to six feet, which he was engaged in rasping; but perhaps it was intended to be cut off to the usual size.
Our route that day led us near to Sioux River; for some distance we had on our right a ridge of about thirty or forty feet in height, which as we advanced inclined to the northeast and soon disappeared. By the Dacotas, Sioux River is called Kantoko (Kantoko,) from a thicket of plum bushes near its head. A few insulated patches of wood seen scattered over the prairie form the "Isles des Bois" of the voyagers. We were shown, at a distance, on the west bank of the river, an elevation, called by the Indians the Thunder's Nest; at its base there are a number of salt ponds.
As we were travelling along the prairie that morning, we were delighted to see our former companion, Lieut. Scott, from whom we had been separated for upwards of three weeks. By the most active exertions, Mr. Scott had been enabled to descend the Mississippi to Prairie du Chien and return to Fort St. Anthony, then to ascend along the St.
The Bois des Sioux is supposed to be the northernmost limit of the undisputed property of the Sioux on Red River. Beyond this they never hunt without being prepared for war, as the prairies between this place and the Wild Rice River to the east, and Turtle River to the west of Red River, form a sort of debatable land, which both Chippewas and Dacotas claim, and upon which both frequently hunt, but always in a state of preparation for hostilities.
After travelling nine miles beyond the Bois des Sioux, the party came to a stream, called Red River. This stream branches out, at about four miles above the place where we struck it; one of its branches rises, as we have mentioned, in Lake Travers, but is dried up during some parts of the year. The other rises in Otter-tail Lake, which is in the neighbourhood of the head of the Riviere de Corbeau. By the Indians this branch is called Otter-tail River, and the stream continues, after the junction of the two, to be called by them Sioux or Swan River, until it receives the Red Fork that rises in Red Lake; they then apply to the stream the name of Red River; while the traders have bestowed this appellation upon the branch that rises in Otter-tail Lake.
After having dried our meat, we continued our journey, and soon discovered, at a distance, a herd of elk, (Cervus major,) to which three of the gentlemen immediately gave chase. This herd consisted of about fifty or sixty elks. After having approached on horseback as near as they could, without alarming them, the gentlemen dismounted, and crept for about a quarter of a mile on their hands and knees, leading their horses, until they came within eighty yards, when they all fired, and one of the herd fell. Mr. Colhoun, who was one of the party, then mounted his horse and pursued the herd for more than a mile. His horse being the best in the company, he got up with them in half that distance, but the horse was so much alarmed by the appearance of the elks, having probably never seen the animal before, that no spurring on the part of the rider, could urge him on near enough to give effect to the pistol shots which he fired. While Mr. Colhoun was chasing them, he observed that the elks in the rear would frequently stop to look at him. When in herds, elks are easily overtaken, but when they are alone it is much more difficult. This animal is however represented as being short-winded. The elk are generally approached in a creeping posture; this mode is also used in hunting buffaloes, by those whose horses are not very fleet. In order to protect their guns from the moisture of the grass, as well as to prevent them from being accidentally cocked, it is usual for the hunters to carry them in leather cases. The animal which our companions killed proved to be a female; they were engaged until near sunset in skinning and cutting it up, so that it was late in the evening when
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