A word may be said as to the climate and soil of this region, and their adaptation to the purposes of agriculture. By the tables of temperature annexed (vide Appendix), the mean solar heat, in the shade, during the time of our being in the country, is shown to be 67°. It is evident that it is the idle habits of the Indians, and no adverse circumstances of climate or soil, that prevent their raising crops for their subsistence.
Arrangements for a light party to ascend the Mississippi, and seek for its sources, having been made, we left Sandy Lake, in two canoes, at nine o'clock in the morning on the 17th. This party, in addition to his Excellency Gov. Cass, consisted of Dr. Alex. Wolcott, Capt. Douglass, Lieut. Mackay, Maj. Forsyth, and myself, with nineteen voyageurs and Indians, provisioned for twelve days. A voyage of about a mile across the western prolongation of the lake, brought us to its outlet—a wide winding stream, with a very perceptible current, and rich alluvial banks, bearing a forest. After pursuing it some mile and a half, we descended a small rapid, where the average descent of water in a short distance may be perhaps three feet; it appeared, however, to give the men no concern, for they urged their way down it, with full strength of paddle and song, and we soon found ourselves in the Mississippi. The first sight of this stream reminded me of one of its striking characteristics, at far lower points, namely, its rapidity. Its waters are slightly turbid, with a reddish tint. Its width, at this point, as denoted by admeasurements subsequently made, [68] is three hundred and thirty-one feet. Its banks are alluvial and of a fertile aspect, bearing a forest of oaks, maples, elms, ash, and pines, with a dense undergrowth of shrubbery. I observed a species of polyganum in the water's edge, and wherever we attempted to land it was miry and the borders wet and damp. We were now, from our notes, a hundred and forty-seven miles due west of the head of Lake Superior, by the curved lines of travelling, and probably one hundred in an air line; and had struck the channel of the Mississippi, not less, by the estimates, than two thousand five hundred miles above its mouth on the Gulf of Mexico. It could not, from the very vague accounts we could obtain from the traders, originate, at the utmost, more than three hundred miles higher, and our Canadian voyageurs turned up the stream, with that Troubadour air, or gaite de cour, keeping time with song and paddle, with which New France had at first been traversed by its Champlains, Marquettes, and Frontenacs. To conquer distance and labor, at the same time, with a song, has occurred to no other people, and if these men are not happy, in these voyages, they, at least, have the semblance of it, and are merry. To keep up this flow of spirits, and bravery of capacity in demolishing distances, they always overrate the per diem travel, which, as I have before observed, is put about one-third too high—that is to say, their league is about two miles. On we went, at this rapid rate, stopping every half hour to rest five minutes. During this brief rest, their big kettle of boiled corn and pork was occasionally brought forward, and dipped in, with great fervency of spoon; but, whether eating or working, they were always gay, and most completely relieved from any care of what might happen to-morrow. For the mess kettle was ever most amply supplied, and not according to the scanty pattern which these couriers de bois often encounter in the Indian trade on these summits, when they are sometimes reduced to dine on tripe de Roche and sup on buton de rose; but they bore in mind that their employer, namely, Uncle Sam, was a full-handed man, and they kept up a most commendable mental balance, by at once eating strong and working strong.
During the first twenty-seven miles, above the inlet of Sandy Lake, we passed six small rapids, at distances of three, four, three, one, five, and eleven miles, where the river sinks its level twenty-nine feet, in the estimated aggregate distance of seven hundred yards. [69] Above the latter, extending twenty miles, to the point of our encampment, there is no perceptible rapid. It was eight o'clock when we encamped, having been eleven hours in our canoes, without stretching our legs, and we had ascended forty-six miles.
CHAPTER X.
Proceed up the Mississippi River—Its velocity and character—Swan River—Trout River, and Mushkoda or Prairie River—Rapids ascended—Reach, and make a portage around Pakagama Falls—Enter a vast lacustrine region—Its character and productions, vegetable and animal—Tortuous channel—Vermilion and Deer Rivers—Leech Lake branch—Lake Winnipek—Ascent of the river to Upper Red Cedar, or Cass Lake—Physical character of the Mississippi River.
Our encampment was near the mouth of Swan River, a considerable stream, originating in Swan Lake, near the head of the St. Louis River of Lake Superior.
We had been pushing our way, daily, up to our arrival at Sandy Lake; but the word, from leaving that point, was, emphatically, push—and we can hardly be said to have taken proper time to eat or sleep. There was a shower of rain, during the night; it ceased at four o'clock, and we again embarked at five, in a cloudy and misty morning, and it continued cloudy all day. The current of the Mississippi continues to be strong; its velocity, during the ascent of this day, was computed by Capt. Douglass at two and a half miles per hour. We passed a rapid about six miles below Trout River, where there is a computed descent of three feet in a hundred and fifty yards. A few miles before reaching Trout River, we passed through a forest of dead pines, occupying ridges of sand, through which the river has cut its way. Four miles above the entrance of Trout River, we passed the mouth of a considerable stream, called by the Chippewas Mushkoda, or Prairie River, and encamped about five hundred yards above its mouth on a high sandy elevation. It was now eight o'clock P.M. We had ascended the river fifty-one miles, having been fifteen hours in our canoes, and we here first took our breakfast. This severity of fasting was, I think, quite unintentional, the mess-basket being in the other canoe, which kept ahead of us the entire day. We had this day observed specimens of the Unio and some other species of fresh-water shells along the shore. And of birds, besides the duck, plover, and loon, which frequent the water, we noticed the thrush, robin, blackbird, and crow. The comparative coolness of the day rendered the annoyance from mosquitos less severe than we had found them the preceding day. The night on this sandy and bleak elevation proved cool, with a heavy dew, which resulted in a dense fog in the morning. We found ice on the bottoms of the canoes, which are turned up at night, of the thickness of a knife-blade.
Our third day's ascent witnessed no diminution of the strength and alacrity with which our canoemen urged our way up the stream. We were off betimes, in a lowering and dense atmosphere, which obscured objects. After advancing some six miles, there are a series of small rapids, which are, taken together, called Ka-ka-bi-ka, [70] where I estimated the river to sink its level sixteen feet, in a short distance; at none of these is the navigation, however, impeded. The rock stratification appears too compact for sand-rock, and is obscured by contiguous boulders, which are indicative of the strong drift-formation, which has spread from the north and east over this region. Four miles after ascending the last of the Kakabika Rapids, we landed at the foot of the Pakagama Falls. Here the lading was immediately put ashore, the canoes landed, and the whole carried over an Indian portage path of two hundred and seventy-five yards. This delay afforded an opportunity to view the falls. The Mississippi, at this point, forces its way through a formation of quartzy rock, during which it sinks its level, as estimated, twenty feet, in a distance of about three hundred yards. There is no perceptible cascade or abrupt fall, but the river rushes with the utmost velocity down a highly inclined rocky bed towards the northeast.