The day after my arrival, I prepared for and summoned the Indians to a council, with the usual formalities. I opened it by announcing the objects of my visit. Neenaba and his followers listened to the terms of the message, the means I had adopted to enforce it, and, finally, to the request of co-operation on the part of himself and band, with strict attention. He confined his reply to an expression of thanks; allusions to the peculiarity of his situation on an exposed frontier; and general sentiments of friendship. He appeared to be mentally embarrassed by my request to drop the war-club, on the successful use of which he had relied for his popularity, and whatever of real power he possessed. He often referred to his young men, over whom he claimed no superiority, and who appeared to be ardently attached to him. I urged the principal topic upon his attention, presenting it in several lights. I finally conferred on him, personally, a medal and flag, and directed the presents intended for his band to be laid, in gross, before him.
After a pause, Neenaba got up, and spoke to the question, connecting it with obvious considerations, of which mutual rights, personal safety, and the obligation to protect the women and children, formed the basis. The latter duty was not a slight one. Last year the Sioux had killed a chief on the opposite shore of the lake, and, at the same time, decoyed two children, who were in a canoe, among the rice, and killed and beheaded them. He said, in allusion to the medal and flag, that these marks of honour were not necessary to secure his attention to any requests made by the American government. And after resuming his seat awhile (during which he overheard some remarks not pleasing to him, from an Indian on the opposite side of the ring), he finally got up and declined receiving them until they were eventually pressed upon him by the young warriors. Every thing appeared to proceed with great harmony, and the presents were quickly distributed by one of his men. It was not, however, until the next day, when my canoes were already put in the water, that he came with his entire party, to make his final reply, and to present the peace-pipe. He had thrown the flag over one arm, and held the war-club perpendicular in the other hand. He said, that although he accepted the one, he did not drop the other; he held fast to both. When he looked at the one, he should revert to the counsels with which it had been given, and he should aim to act upon those counsels; but he also deemed it necessary to hold fast the war-club; it was, however, with a determination to use it in defence, and not in attack. He had reflected upon the advice sent to the Chippewas by the President, and particularly that part of it which counselled them to sit still upon their lands; but while they sat still, they also wished to be certain that their enemies would sit still. And the pipe he was now about to offer, he offered with a request that it might be sent to the President, asking him to use his power to prevent the Sioux from crossing the lines. The pipe was then lit, handed round, the ashes knocked out, and a formal presentation of it made. This ceremony being ended, I shook hands with them, and immediately embarked.
On the second day afterward, I reached the sawmill, the subject of such frequent allusion, and landed there at 7 o’clock in the morning. I found a Mr. Wallace in charge, who was employed, with ten men, in building a new dam on a brook of the Red Cedar, the freshet of last spring having carried away the former one. I inquired of him where the line between the Sioux and Chippewas crossed. He replied that the line crossed above the mill, he did not precisely know the place; adding, however, in the course of conversation, that he believed the land in this vicinity originally belonged to the Chippewas. He said it was seven years since any Sioux had visited the mill; and that the latter was owned by persons at Prairie du Chien.
The rapids of the Red Cedar River extend (according to the estimates contained in my notes) about twenty-four miles. They commence a few miles below the junction of Meadow River, and terminate about two miles below the mills. This extension of falling water, referred to in the treaty as a fixed point, has led to the existing uncertainty. The country itself is of a highly valuable character for its soil, its game, its wild rice, and its wood. We found the butter-nut among those species which are locally included under the name of Bois franc by the traders. The land can, hereafter, be easily brought into cultivation, as it is interspersed with prairie; and its fine mill privileges will add to its value. Indeed, one mile square is intrinsically worth one hundred miles square of Chippewa country, in some other places.
The present sawmills (there are two), are situated 65 miles from the banks of the Mississippi. They are owned exclusively by private citizens, and employed for their sole benefit. The boards are formed into rafts: and these rafts are afterward attached together, and floated down the Mississippi to St. Louis, where they command a good price. The business is understood to be a profitable one. For the privilege, no equivalent has been paid either to the Indians or to the United States. The first mill was built several years ago, and before the conclusion of the treaty of Prairie du Chien, fixing boundaries to the lands. A permit was given for building, either verbal or written, as I have been informed, by a former commanding officer at Prairie du Chien. I make these statements in reference to a letter I have received from the Department since my return, but which is dated June 27th, containing a complaint of one of the owners of the mill, that the Chippewas had threatened to burn it, and requesting me to take the necessary precautionary measures. I heard nothing of such a threat, but believe that the respect which the Chippewas have professed, through me, for the American government, and the influence of my visit among them, will prevent a resort to any measures of violence; and that they will wait the peaceable adjustment of the line on the rapids. I will add, that wherever that line may be determined, in a reasonable probability, to fall, the mill itself cannot be supplied with logs for any length of time, if it is now so supplied, without cutting them on Chippewa lands, and rafting them down the Red Cedar. Many of the logs heretofore sawed at this mill, have been rafted, up stream, to the mill. And I understood from the person in charge of it, that he was now anxious to ascertain new sites for chopping; that his expectations were directed up the stream, but that his actual knowledge of the country, in that direction, did not embrace a circumference of more than five miles.
The line between the Chippewa and Sioux, as drawn on the MS. map of Neenaba, strikes the rapids on Red Cedar River at a brook and bluff a short distance below the mill. It proceeds thence, across the point of land between that branch of the main Chippewa, to an island in the latter; and thence, up stream, to the mouth of Clearwater River, as called for by the treaty, and from this point to the bluffs of the Mississippi valley (where it corners on Winnebago land), on Black River, and not to the “mouth” of Black River, as erroneously inserted in the 5th article of the treaty; the Chippewas never having advanced any claims to the lands at the mouth of Black River. This map, being drawn by a Chippewa of sense, influence, and respectability, an exact copy of it is herewith forwarded for the use of the Department, as embracing the opinions of the Chippewas on this point. The lines and geographical marks were drawn on paper by Neenaba himself, and the names translated and written down by Mr. Johnston.
It is obvious that the adjustment of this line must precede a permanent peace on this part of the frontiers. The number of Chippewas particularly interested in it is, from my notes, 2,102; to which, 911 may be added for certain bands on Lake Superior. It embraces 27 villages, and the most influential civil and war chiefs of the region. The population is enterprising and warlike. They have the means of subsistence in comparative abundance. They are increasing in numbers. They command a ready access to the Mississippi by water, and a ready return from it by land. Habits of association have taught them to look upon this stream as the theatre of war. Their young men are carried into it as the natural and almost only means of distinction. And it is in coincidence with all observation, to say that they are now, as they were in the days of Captain Carver, the terror of the east bank of this river, between the St. Croix and Chippewa Rivers. No other tribe has now, or has had, within the memory of man, a village or permanent possession on this part of the shore. It is landed on in fear. It is often passed by other nations by stealth, and at night. Such is not an exaggerated picture. And with a knowledge of their geographical advantages, and numbers, and distribution, on the tributary streams,