William Whipple Warren

“ On the head waters of Crow River, nearly two hundred miles from the point of his departure, Yellow Hair at last caught up with the two lodges of his enemies. At the first peep of dawn in the morning, the Dakotas were startled from their quiet slumbers by the fear-striking Ojibway war-whoop, and as the men arose to grasp their arms, and the women and children jumped up in affright, the bullets of the enemy fell amongst them, causing wounds and death. After the first moments of surprise, the men of the Dakotas returned the fire of the enemy, and for many minutes the fight raged hotly. ”

“ During my long residence among the Ojibways, after numberless inquiries of their old men, I have never been able to learn, by tradition or otherwise, that they entertain the belief that all the tribes of the red race inhabiting America have ever been, at any time since the occupancy of this continent, one and the same people, speaking the same language, and practising the same beliefs and customs. The traditions of this tribe extend no further into the past than the once concentration or coalition under one head, of the different and now scattered tribes belonging to the Algic stock. ”

“ After camping out four nights, and travelling each day through a prairie country, the soul arrives in the land of spirits, where he finds his relatives accumulated since mankind was first created; all is rejoicing, singing and dancing; they live in a beautiful country interspersed with clear lakes and streams, forests and prairies, and abounding in fruit and game to repletion—in a word, abounding in all that the red man most covets in this life, and which conduces most to his happiness. ”

“ A number of young men, women, and children, were standing around, admiring the goods which had been exposed to dry, and longing for possession, as much as an avaricious white man for a pile of yellow gold, when a forward young warrior approached a roll of cloth, and after feeling, and remarking on its texture, his itching fingers at last tore off a piece sufficient to make him a breech clout, at the same time he remarked, that he had beaver skins in his lodge, and when the trader got well, he would pay his demands. ”

“ The founders of this village consisted of three brothers belonging to the daring and fearless Bear Clan. On the shores of Lac Coutereille (Ottaway Lake) , during the course of a winter hunt, they lost one of their children, and as they returned dust to dust, in the silent grave, they buried the seed which caused them, as it were, to grow emplanted on the soil, like a tree, to shade it from the rude gaze of strangers, and watch it against the ravenous visits of wild beasts. ”

“ Two women, holding each a child in her arms—the Indian wives of John Baptiste and Michel Cadotte, who had often plead in vain to their husbands for his life, were the first who approached the body of the dying Indian, and amidst the deep silence of the stricken spectators, these compassionate women bent over him, and with weeping eyes, watched his last feeble death struggle. ”

“ When the peace party has been few in numbers, and the camp of the enemy large, it has been only through the most strenuous efforts of the wiser warriors, that blood has not been shed. The first excitement once over, and the peace pipe smoked, the Dakotas, smoothing down their angry looks, would invite the Ojibways into their lodges, and feast them with the best they possessed. ”

“ The Great Spirit once made a bird, and he sent it from the skies to make its abode on earth. The bird came, and when it reached half way down, among the clouds, it sent forth a loud and far sounding cry, which was heard by all who resided on the earth, and even by the spirits who make their abode within its bosom. When the bird reached within sight of the earth, it circled slowly above the Great Fresh Water Lakes, and again it uttered its echoing cry. ”

“ The warriors of Flat Mouth made demonstrations to kill them at once, but Flat Mouth ordered them to desist, as he did not wish "to sully the door-steps of a white man with blood." He refused to smoke from the proffered pipe-stem of the Dakota chief, and Shappa knew from this that his treachery was fully known, and his enemies had met to punish him. All night it rained and thundered heavily, and mingled with the roaring of the storm without, there arose the voice of the doomed chieftain, as he prayed and sang to the spirits of his belief for protection against the threatened danger. ”

“ The excited warriors, however, insisted on firing a salute, and their bullets, for some minutes, spattered the water in every direction around the canoes of the Ojibways, and even perforated the flag which hung over the head of their chief. The old men, still living, [2] who were present on this occasion, describe it as the most dangerous scene in their lives. They would much rather have met their enemies in open fight than bear the long suspense between life and death which they perceived hanging over them, the wild excitement among the Dakotas, and the bullets whizzing past their heads. ”

“ The Ojibways resisted their new enemies manfully, and it was not till their ammunition had entirely failed, that they in turn showed their backs in flight. But few would tell the sad tale of defeat and the death of brave men, had not the party of sixty warriors from Sandy Lake, who were to have joined them at the mouth of Snake River, arrived at this opportune moment, and landed at the head of the portage. Eager for the fight, and fresh on the field, the band rushed forward and withstood the onset of the Odugamies and Dakotas, till their friends could rally again to the battle. ”

“ I too am a man!" As the Fox warrior arose to his feet, Bi-a-jig again struck him on the mouth, and exclaimed. "You call yourself a man. I too am a man! we will fight, to see who will live to tell of killing a warrior!"
During this scene the Foxes had grasped their arms, and the Ojibways, though far outnumbered even within the lodge, jumped up and yelled their war whoop, all of course supposing that the Fox war-chief, who had made himself so conspicuous, would resent the blow of Bi-a-jig, which act would have led to a general battle. ”

“ They could distinctly hear the drums beating in an adjacent village of their enemies, as they held rejoicings over the scalp which their warriors had brought home. Towards evening a canoe load of young women came floating leisurely down the sluggish current of the Minnesota, chatting and laughing, in anticipation of the magnificent scalp dance which they were going to join, after having adorned their persons with profuse ornaments, and painted their cheeks with vermilion. ”

“ The old hunter being anxious to save a portion of his kindred, took two girls—his grandchildren—each by the hand and silently led them some distance into the surrounding woods, amid the darkness, and informing them the direction they were to go—to be judged by the wind, and fast falling flakes of snow, he bade them save their lives by flight and inform their people of his fate. ”

“ With the eager interest and love of novelty of the young, he listened to their war songs and war stories, and longed for the time when he would be old enough to join these parties, and also make himself a name among warriors. While quite a youth, he volunteered to go out with a party, and soon gave convincing proof of his courage. He also early learned the arts of hunting the deer, the bear, the moose, and all the smaller animals common to the country; and in these pursuits he took the ordinary lessons of Indian young men in abstinence, suffering, danger, and endurance of fatigue. ”

“ The leader lost not his presence of mind, though perfectly satisfied that the fate of his party was fully sealed. Addressing a few words of encouragement to his warriors, he led them to a small clump of poplar trees which grew on a knoll on the prairie, in plain view of the Dakota encampment. Here, they each dug a hole in the ground, from which they determined to keep up the fight with their numerous enemies, as long as their ammunition might last. They had hardly finished their preparations, when the Dakota warriors made their appearance in a formidable array on the open prairie. ”

“ The Ojibways, anxious for a fight, made a stand, and a fierce fight ensued in the darkness, the combatants aiming at the flashes of their enemies' musketry. The bravest warriors gradually approached to within a few feet of one another, in the midst of the darkness, when a Dakota chief was heard to give orders to his people in a loud voice, to divide into two parties, and making circuits to the right and left, surround the enemy and cut off their retreat. ”

“ When the rice-gathering is over, the autumn is far advanced, and by the time each family has secreted their rice and other property with which they do not wish to be encumbered during the coming winter's march, they move once more in a body to the usual rendezvous at Gull Lake, or Crow Wing, to search for meat on the dangerous hunting grounds of their enemies. In those days which we now speak of, game of the larger species was very plentiful in this region of country, where now the poor Ojibway, depending on his hunt for a living, would literally starve to death. ”

“ It is, however, still a matter of doubt and perplexity; it is a book sealed to the eyes of man, for the time has not yet come when the Great Ruler of all things, in His wisdom, shall make answer through his inscrutable ways to the question which has puzzled, and still puzzles the minds of the learned civilized world. How came America to be first inhabited by man? What branch of the great human family are its aboriginal people descended from? ”

“ His Indian sagacity told him that it was the foot-print of an O-dug-am-ee, and returning to the wigwam, he proposed to his family an immediate flight to some neighboring camp of their friends. The silent son now spoke, and told his father that flight had become impracticable, for they were entirely surrounded by a very large war-party of their enemies. "All we can do," said he, "is to prepare for death; for I have seen the trail of the O-dug-am-ee warriors, and it is deep-beaten and wide; many feet have trodden it." ”

“ The men of the Ojibways were seated on one side of this lodge, while the more numerous Foxes occupied the other. A red stake was planted in the centre, near which was also planted a war-club, with which each warrior, wishing to relate his exploits, was to strike the red stake, as a signal for the music and dancing to cease. The dancing commenced, and as the warriors circled the stake, occasionally yelling their fierce war-whoop, they soon became excited, and warrior after warrior plucked the club and told of bloody deeds. ”

“ Is it not probable from these beliefs that ages ago the Ojibways resided westward, and occupied a country "flowing in milk and honey"—a country abounding in all that tends to their enjoyment and happiness, and to which they look back as the tired traveller on a burning desert looks back to a beautiful oasis which he has once passed, or as the lonely wanderer looks back to the once happy home of his childhood? ”

“ The warriors of both parties leaped continually from side to side, to prevent their enemies from taking a sure aim; and as they stood confronting one another for a few moments on the open prairie, exchanging quick successive volleys, their bodies in continual motion, the plumes on their heads waving to and fro, and uttering their fierce, quick, sharp battle cry, they must have presented a singular and wild appearance. For a short time only, the Dakotas stood the eager onset of the Ojibways. ”

“ Respecting their own origin the Ojibways are even more totally ignorant than their white brethren, for they have no Bible to tell them that God originally made Adam, from whom the whole human race is sprung. They have their beliefs and oral traditions, but so obscure and unnatural, that nothing approximating to certainty can be drawn from them. They fully believe, and it forms part of their religion, that the world has once been covered by a deluge, and that we are now living on what they term the "new earth." ”

“ The Ojibways assert in behalf of their tribe, that they have never been forced to live in earthen wigwams as a defence against their enemies, and none of the mounds which are thickly scattered over the country which they at present occupy west of Lake Superior, originate from or are the work of their ancestors. The country in which they have lived for the past five centuries is covered with dense forests, and plentifully supplied with large lakes, on the bosom of which lay islands, where in times of danger they could always pitch their light wigwams in comparative safety. ”

“ Happy to hunt on the rich hunting grounds of the Dakotas, under the protection of such a large party of white traders, the Pillager and Sandy Lake hunters moved in their wake, and lay scattered about in different winter camps, in the vicinity of their winter quarters, carrying on, with the different traders, an active barter of furs for their merchandise. ”