A narrative of the captivity and adventures of John Tanner

CHAPTER VIII Preparation for a war excursion. – Herds of buffalo heard at a great distance. – Terrible conflicts among the bulls. – Observances of the young warriors. – Ko-zau-bun-ziche-e-gun, or divination to discover the situation of an enemy. – Jeebi-ug, or memorials of deceased friends to be thrown away on the field of battle; and the design of the custom. – War-party broken up by the interference of a rival chief. – Stupidity of the porcupine. – I save the life of my foster brother. – Albino bears. – Waw-be-no. – Marriage of Pi-che-to and Skwa-shish. – Attack of a Sioux war-party, and pursuit to the village at Chief Mountain, and the head of the St. Peters, etc.

Four days after I returned from Red River, we moved to the woods, Wa-me-gon-a-biew with his two wives and his family; Waw-be-be-nais-sa, with one wife and several children; myself and wife, and the family of Net-no-kwa. We directed our course towards the Craneberry River, (Pembinah,) as we wished to select near that place a favourable spot where our women and children might remain encamped, it being our intention to join a war-party then preparing to go against the Sioux. When we had chosen a suitable place, we applied ourselves diligently to hunting, that we might leave dry meat enough to supply the wants of our families in our absence. It happened one morning that I went to hunt with only three balls in my pouch, and finding a large buck moose, I fired at him rather hastily, and missed him twice in succession. The third time I hit but did not kill him, only wounding him in the shoulder. I pursued, and at length overtook him, but having no balls, I took the screws out of my gun, tying the lock on with a string, and it was not till after I had shot three of them into him that he fell.

We had killed a considerable quantity of meat, and the women were engaged in drying it when, feeling curious to know the state of forwardness of the war-party at Pembinah, and how soon they would start, we took our horses and rode down, leaving Waw-be-be-nais-sa with the women. When we arrived we found forty men of the Muskegoes ready to depart on the following morning, and though we had come without our moccasins, or any of the usual preparations, we determined to accompany them. Great numbers of Ojibbeways and Crees had assembled, but they seemed, in general, unwilling to accompany the Muskegoes, as this band is not in very high repute among them. Wa-me-gon-a-biew was willing to dissuade me from going, urging that we had better put it off and go with the Ojibbeways in the fall. But I assured him I would by no means lose the present opportunity inasmuch as we could both go now and in the fall also.

By the end of the second day after we left Pembinah, we had not a mouthful to eat, and were beginning to be hungry. When we laid down in our camp at night, and put our ears close to the ground, we could hear the tramp of buffaloes, but when we sat up we could hear nothing, and on the following morning nothing could be seen of them, though we could command a very extensive view of the prairie. As we knew they must not be far off in the direction of the sounds we had heard, eight men of whom I was one, were selected and despatched to kill some, and bring the meat to a point where it was agreed the party should stop next night. The noise we could still hear in the morning by applying our ears to the ground, and it seemed about as far distant, and in the same direction as before. We started early and rode some hours before we could begin to see them, and when we first discovered the margin of the herd, it must have been at least ten miles distant. It was like a black line drawn along the edge of the sky, or a low shore seen across a lake. The distance of the herd from the place where we first heard them, could not have been less than twenty miles. But it was now the rutting season, and various parts of the herd were all the time kept in rapid motion by the severe fights of the bulls. To the noise produced by the knocking together of the two divisions of the hoof, when they raised their feet from the ground, and of their incessant tramping, was added the loud and furious roar of the bulls, engaged as they all were in their terrific and appalling conflicts. We were conscious that our approach to the herd would not occasion the alarm now that it would have done at any other time, and we rode directly towards them. As we came near we killed a wounded bull which scarce made an effort to escape from us. He had wounds in his flanks into which I could put my whole hand. As we knew that the flesh of the bulls was not now good to eat, we did not wish to kill them, though we might easily have shot any number. Dismounting, we put our horses in the care of some of our number, who were willing to stay back for that purpose, and then crept into the herd to try to kill some cows. I had separated from the others, and advancing, got entangled among the bulls. Before I found an opportunity to shoot a cow, the bulls began to fight very near me. In their fury they were totally unconscious of my presence, and came rushing towards me with such violence, that in some alarm for my safety, I took refuge in one of those holes which are so frequent where these animals abound, and which they themselves dig to wallow in. Here I found that they were pressing directly upon me, and I was compelled to fire to disperse them, in which I did not succeed until I had killed four of them. By this firing the cows were so frightened that I perceived I should not be able to kill any in this quarter, so regaining my horse, I rode to a distant part of the herd, where the Indians had succeeded in killing a fat cow. But from this cow, as is usual in similar cases, the herd had all moved off, except one bull, who, when I came up, still kept the Indians at bay. “You are warriors,” said I, as I rode up, “going far from your own country, to seek an enemy, but you cannot take his wife from that old bull who has nothing in his hands.” So saying I passed them directly towards the bull, then standing something more than two hundred yards distant. He no sooner saw me approach than he came plunging towards me with such impetuosity, that knowing the danger to my horse and myself, I turned and fled. The Indians laughed heartily at my repluse, but they did not give over their attempts to get at the cow. By dividing the attention of the bull, and creeping up to him on different sides, they at length shot him down. While we were cutting up the cow, the herd were at no great distance, and an old cow, which the Indians supposed to be the mother of the one we had killed, taking the scent of the blood, came running with great violence directly towards us. The Indians were alarmed and fled, many of them not having their guns in their hands, but I had carefully re-loaded mine, and had it ready for use. Throwing myself down close to the body of the cow, and behind it, I waited till the other came up within a few yards of the carcass, when I fired upon her. She turned, gave one or two jumps, and fell dead. We had now the meat of two fat cows which was as much as we wanted. We repaired without delay to the appointed place where we found our party, whose hunger was already somewhat allayed by a deer one of them had killed.

I now began to attend to some of the ceremonies of what may be called the initiation of warriors, this being the first time I had been on a war-party. For the three first times that a man accompanies a war-party, the customs of the Indians require some peculiar and painful observances from which old warriors may, if they choose, be exempted. The young warrior must constantly paint his face black; must wear a cap, or head dress of some kind; must never precede the older warriors, but follow them, stepping in their tracks. He must never scratch his head, or any other part of his body, with his fingers, but if he is compelled to scratch, he must use a small stick; the vessel he eats or drinks out of, or the knife he uses, must be touched by no other person. In the two last mentioned particulars, the observances of the young warriors are like those the females in some bands use during their earliest periods of menstruation. The young warrior, however long and fatiguing the march, must neither eat, nor drink, nor sit down by day. If he halts for a moment, he must turn his face towards his own country, that the Great Spirit may see that it is his wish to return home again.

At night they observe a certain order in their encampments. If there are bushes where they halt, the camp is enclosed by these stuck into the ground, so as to include a square, or oblong space, with a passage, or door, in one end, which is always that towards the enemy’s country. If there are not bushes, they mark the ground in the same manner, with small sticks, or the stalks of the weeds which grow in the prairie. Near the gate, or entrance to this camp, is the principal chief and the old warriors; next follow in order, according to age and reputation, the younger men. And last of all, in the extreme end of the camp, those with blacked faces, who are making their first excursion. All the warriors, both old and young, sleep with their faces towards their own country, and, on no consideration, however uneasy their position, or however great their fatigue, must make any change of attitude, nor must any two lie upon, or be covered by the same blanket. In their marches, the warriors, if they ever sit down, must not sit upon the naked ground, but must at least have some grass or bushes under them. They must, if possible, avoid wetting their feet, but if they are ever compelled to wade through a swamp, or to cross a stream, they must keep their clothes dry, and whip their legs with bushes or grass when they come out of the water. They must never walk in a beaten path if they can avoid it, but if they cannot at all times, then they must put medicine on their legs, which they carry for that purpose. Any article belonging to any of the party, such as his gun, his blanket, tomahawk, knife, or war club, must not be stepped over by any other person, neither must the legs, hands, or body of any one who is sitting or lying on the ground. Should this rule be inadvertently violated, it is the duty of the one to whom the article stepped over may belong, to seize the other and throw him on the ground, and the latter must suffer himself to be thrown down, even should he be much stronger than the other. The vessels which they carry to eat out of, are commonly small bowls of wood, or of birch bark. They are marked across the middle and the Indians have some mark by which they distinguish the two sides. In going out from home they drink invariably out of one side, and in returning, from the other. When on their way home, and within one day of the village, they suspend all these bowls on trees, or throw them away in the prairie. I should have mentioned that in their encampments at night, the chief who conducts the party sends some of his young men a little distance in advance to prepare what is called Pushkwaw-gumme-genahgun, the piece of cleared ground where the kozau-bun-zichegun, or divination by which the position of the enemy is to be discovered, is to be performed. This spot of cleared ground is prepared by removing the turf from a considerable surface, in form of a parallelogram, and with the hands breaking up the soil, to make it fine and soft, and which is so inclosed with poles that none can step on it. The chief, when he is informed that the place is ready, goes and sits down at the end opposite that of the enemy’s country. Then, after singing and praying, he places before him on the margin of the piece of ground, which may be compared to a bed in a garden, two small roundish stones. After the chief has remained here by himself for some time, entreating the Great Spirit to show him the path in which he ought to lead his young men, a crier goes to him from the camp, and then returning part way, he calls by name some of the principal men, saying, “come smoke.” Others also, if they wish it, who are not called, repair to the chief, and they then examine, by striking a light, the result of the kozau-bun-zichegun. The two stones which the chief placed on the margin of the bed have moved across to the opposite end, and it is from the appearance of the path they have left in passing over the soft ground, that they infer the course they are to pursue.

At this place of divination, the offerings of cloth, beads, and whatever other articles the chief and each man may carry for sacrifice, are exposed during the night on a pole; also, their je-bi-ug, or memorials of their dead friends, which are to be thrown away on the field of battle, or if, possible, thrust into the ripped up bowels of their enemies who may fall in the fight. If a warrior has lost, by death, a favourite child, he carries, if possible, some article of dress, or perhaps some toy, which belonged to the child, or more commonly a lock of his hair which they seek to throw away on the field of battle. The scouts who precede a war party into an enemy’s country, if they happen, in lurking about their lodges, or in their old encampments, to discover any of the toys that have been dropped by the children, such as little bows, or even a piece of a broken arrow, pick it up, and carefully preserve it until they return to the party. Then, if they know of a man who has lost his child, they throw it to him, saying, “your little son is in that place, we saw him playing with the children of our enemies. Will you go and see him?” The bereaved father commonly takes it up, and having looked upon it awhile, falls to crying, and is then ready and eager to go against the enemy. An Indian chief, when he leads out his war party, has no other means of control over the individuals composing it than his personal influence gives him. It is therefore necessary they should have some method of rousing and stimulating themselves to exertion.

A-gus-ko-gaut, the Muskego chief whom we accompanied on this occasion, called himself a prophet of the Great Spirit, like the one who appeared some years since among the Shawanees. He had, some time before, lost his son, and on this party he carried the jebi, with the determination of leaving it in a bloody field; but this design was frustrated by the interference of Ta-bush-shah[*], (he that dodges down,) who now overtook us with twenty men. This restless and ambitious Ojibbeway was unwilling that any but himself should lead a party against the Sioux; more particularly, that any of his own daring actions should be eclipsed by the prowess of so despised a people as the Muskegoes. But on first joining us, his professions manifested nothing unfriendly to our undertaking; on the contrary, he pretended he had come to aid his brethren, the Muskegoes. A-gus-ko-gaut could scarce have been ignorant of the feelings and intentions of Ta-bush-shah, but nevertheless he received him with the utmost apparent cordiality and pleasure.

We journeyed on in company for some days, when in crossing some of the wide prairies, our thirst became so excessive that we were compelled to violate some of the rules of the war party. The principal men were acquainted with the general features of the country we had to pass, and knew that water could be found within a few miles of us, but most of the older warriors being on foot, were exhausted with fatigue and thirst. In this emergency, it became necessary that such of the party as had horses, among whom were Wa-me-gon-a-biew and myself, should go forward and search for water, and when it was found, make such a signal as would inform the main body what course to pursue. I was among the first to discover a place where water could be had, but before all the men could come up to it, the suffering of some of them had become excessive. Those who had arrived at the spring continued to discharge their guns during the night, and the stragglers dropped in from different directions, some vomiting blood, and some in a state of madness.

As we rested at this spring, an old man called Ah-tek-oons (the Little Caribou,) made a Kozau-bun-zichegun, or divination, and announced afterwards that in a particular direction which he pointed out, was a large band of Sioux warriors coming directly towards us; that if we could turn to the right or to the left, and avoid meeting them, we might proceed unmolested to their country, and be able to do some mischief to the women in their villages; but that if we suffered them to come upon us, and attack us, we should be cut off, to a man. Ta-bush-shah affected to place the most implicit reliance on this prediction, but the Muskegoe chief, and the Muskegoes generally, would not listen to it.

There was now an incipient murmur of discontent, and some few openly talked of abandoning A-gus-ko-gaut, and returning to their own country. For some days nothing occurred except the discovery by some of our spies, of a single Indian at a distance who fled immediately on being seen, and was from that circumstance supposed to be one of a Sioux war party. One morning we came to a herd of buffalo, and being without any food, several of the young men were dispersed about to kill some. We had now, since the discovery of the Sioux, been travelling only by night, keeping ourselves concealed in the day time. But the unguarded manner in which the Muskegoes suffered their young men to pursue the buffalo, riding about in open day, and discharging their guns, afforded Ta-bush-shah an opportunity to effect what was probably the sole design of his journey, a disunion of the party, and eventually the frustration of all the designs of A-gus-ko-gaut.

Our camp being profusely supplied with meat, we had something like a general feast. The party was regularly and compactly arranged, and after they had eaten, Ta-bush-shah arose and harangued them in a loud voice. “You, Muskegoes,” said he, “are not warriors, though you have come very far from your own country, as you say, to find the Sioux. But though hundreds of your enemies may be, and probably are, immediately about us, you can never find one of them unless they fall upon you to kill you.” In the close of his address, he expressed his determination to abandon the cause of a party so badly conducted, and return to his own country with his twenty men.

When he had spoken, Pe-zhew-o-ste-gwon, (the wild cat’s head,) the orator of A-gus-ko-gaut, replied to him. “Now,” said he, “we see plainly why our brothers, the Ojibbeways and Crees were not willing to come with us from Red River. You are near your own country, and it is of little importance to you whether you see the Sioux now, or in the fall. But we have come a very great distance. We bear with us, as we have long borne, those that were our friends and children, but we cannot lay them down, except we come into the camp of our enemies. You know well that in a party like this, large as it even now is, if only one turns back, another and another will follow, until none are left. And it is for this reason that you have joined us; that you may draw off our young men, and thus compel us to return without having done any thing.” After he had spoken, Ta-bush-shah, without making any answer, rose, and turning his face towards his own country, departed with his twenty men. A-gus-ko-gaut, and the principal men of the Muskegoes sat silently together, and saw one after another of their own young men get up and follow the Ojibbeways. In the first moments, this defection of Ta-bush-shah seemed to arouse some indignation in the breasts of some of the young Muskegoes, for they imprudently fired upon the rear of the retiring Ojibbeways; but though some of the latter turned to resent this treatment, their prudent leader repressed their ardour, and by so doing, gained the good will of those who might so readily have been rendered dangerous enemies. For the greater part of the day did A-gus-ko-gaut, and the few that remained firm to him, continue sitting upon the ground, in the same spot where he had listened to the speech of Ta-bush-shah; and when at last he saw his band diminished from sixty to five, the old man could not refrain from tears.

Wa-me-gon-a-biew had joined the deserting party, and at that time I had removed to a place a few rods distant from the chief, where I remained during the whole time. I now rejoined the chief and told him if he was willing to go on himself, I would accompany him, if no other would. The other three men who remained, being his personal friends, were willing to have gone on if he had wished it, but he said he feared we could do very little, being so few in number, and if the Sioux should discover us, we could not fail to be cut off. So the excursion was abandoned, and every man sought to return home by the most convenient and expeditious way, no longer paying the least regard to any thing except his own safety and comfort. I soon overtook Wa-me-gon-a-biew, and with three other men, we formed a party to return together. We chose, in our return, a route different from that taken by most of the party. Game was plenty, and we did not suffer from hunger. Early one morning, I was lying wrapped in my blanket by a deep buffalo path, which came down through a prairie to the little creek where we were encamped. It was now late in the fall, and the thick and heavy grasses of these prairies, having long before been killed by the frosts, had become perfectly dry. To avoid burning the grass, we had kindled our little fire in the bottom of the deep path, where it passed through the corner of the bank. Some of the Indians had got up, and were sitting part on one and part on the other side of the path, preparing something for breakfast, when our attention was called to some unusual sound, and we saw a porcupine come walking slowly and slouchingly down the path. I had heard much of the stupidity of this animal, but never had an opportunity to witness it till now. On he came, without giving any attention to surrounding objects, until his nose was actually in the fire. Then bracing stiffly back with his fore feet, he stood so near that the flame, when driven towards him by the wind, still singed the hairs on his face, for some minutes, stupidly opening and shutting his eyes. At length one of the Indians, tired of looking at him, hit him a blow in the face with a piece of moose meat he had on a little stick to roast. One of them then killed him with a tomahawk, and we ate some of the meat, which was very good. The Indians then, in conversation respecting the habits of this animal, related to me what I have since seen, namely: that as a porcupine is feeding in the night, along the bank of a river, a man may sometimes take up some of his food on the blade of a paddle and holding it to his nose, he will eat it without ever perceiving the presence of the man. When taken, they can neither bite nor scratch, having no protection or defence except what is yielded them by their barbed and dangerous spines. Dogs can rarely, if ever, be urged to attack them. When they do, severe injury and suffering, if not death, is the certain consequence.

In four days after we started to return, we reached Large Wood River, which heads in a mountain, and running a long distance through the prairie, and ten miles under ground, empties into Red River. Below the place where it disappears under the prairie, it is called by another name, but it is no doubt the same river. Here we killed one of the common red deer, like those of Kentucky, though this kind is not often seen in the north.

When I returned to my family I had but seven balls left, but as there was no trader near, I could not at present get any more. With those seven I killed twenty moose and elk. Often times, in shooting an elk or a moose, the ball does not pass quite through, and may be used again.

Late in the fall I went to the Mouse River trading house to get some goods, and there Wa-me-gon-a-biew determined to go and live by himself, but Net-no-kwa preferred to live with me. Before Wa-me-gon-a-biew left me, we met at the Mouse River trading house some of the members of a family that in times long past had quarrelled with the predecessors of Wa-me-gon-a-biew. They were part of a considerable band, strangers to us, and in themselves were far too powerful for us. We heard of their intention to kill Wa-me-gon-a-biew, and as we could not avoid being thrown more or less into their power, we thought best to conciliate their good will, or at least purchase their forbearance by a present. We had two kegs of whiskey, which we gave to the band, presenting one particularly to the head of the family who had threatened us. When they began to drink, I noticed one man, who, with great show of cordiality invited Wa-me-gon-a-biew to drink, and pretended to drink with him. The more effectually to throw my brother off his guard, this man, in due time, began to act like a drunken man, though I could perceive he was perfectly sober, and knew that he had drank very little, if any thing, since we had been together. I had no difficulty to comprehend his intentions, and determined, if possible, to protect Wa-me-gon-a-biew from the mischief intended him. We had, with the hope of securing the friendship of the family of Crees, made our fire very near theirs, and as I found Wa-me-gon-a-biew becoming too drunk to have much discretion, I withdrew him to our camp. Here I had scarce laid him down and thrown his blanket over him, when I found myself surrounded by the hostile family, with their guns and knives in their hands, and I heard them speak openly of killing my brother. Fortunately our present of spirits had nearly overcome the senses of all except the man I have before mentioned, and I regarded him as the most formidable among them. As two of them approached, apparently intending to stab Wa-me-gon-a-biew, I stepped between and prevented them. They then seized me by the arms, which I allowed them to hold without any resistance on my part, knowing that when about to stab me, they must let go at least with one hand each, and intending then to make an effort to escape from them. I grasped firmly in my right hand, and at the same time kept hid in the corner of my blanket, a large and strong knife on which I placed great reliance. Very soon after they had seized me, the Indian on my left, still holding my left hand by his, raised his knife in his right to strike me in the ribs. His companion, who was somewhat drunk, having felt his belt for his own knife, found he had dropped it, and calling out to his companion to wait until he could find his knife that he might help to kill me, quitted my right hand and went towards the fire searching for it. This was my opportunity, and with a sudden spring I disengaged myself from the one who still held my left hand, and at the same time showing him a glimpse of my knife. I was now free and might have secured my own safety by flight but was determined not to abandon Wa-me-gon-a-biew in a situation where I knew for me to leave him, would be certain death. The Indians seemed for a moment astonished at my sudden resistance and escape, and not less so, when they saw me catch up the body of my drunken companion, and at two or three leaps, place him in a canoe on the beach. I lost no time in passing over the small distance between their camp and the trading house. Why they did not fire upon me before I was out of the light of their camp fire, I cannot tell. Perhaps they were somewhat intimidated at seeing me so well armed, so active, and so entirely sober, which last circumstance gave me an evident advantage over most of them.

Shortly after this Wa-me-gon-a-biew left me according to his previous determination, and I went to live by myself at a place on the Assinneboin River. I had been here but a few days when A-ke-wah-zains, a brother of Net-no-kwa, came to stay at our lodge. He had not been long with us when we one day discovered a very old man, in a small wooden canoe, coming up the river. A-ke-wah-zains immediately knew him to be the father of the men from whom I had so lately rescued Wa-me-gon-a-biew. The old man came promptly to the shore when called, but it soon appeared that he was ignorant of what had passed between his children and us. A-ke-wah-zains, as he related these affairs to him, became excessively enraged, and it was not without difficulty I prevented him from murdering the helpless old man on the spot. I was content to suffer him to take part of the rum the old man had brought, and I assisted the latter to escape immediately, as I knew it would be unsafe for him to remain among us after his liquor had begun to have its effect.

The same evening A-ke-wah-zains asked me for my gun, which was a long, heavy, and very excellent one, in exchange for his, which was short and light. I was unwilling to exchange, though I did not as yet know how great was the disparity between the two pieces, and though Net-no-kwa was unwilling I should exchange, I did not know how to refuse the man’s request, such a thing being almost unknown among the Indians of this country.

Shortly after this, I killed an old she bear which was perfectly white. She had four cubs, one white, with red eyes, and red nails, like herself; one red, (brown?) and two black. In size, and other respect, she was the same as the common black bear, but she had nothing black about her except the skin of the lips. The fur of this kind is very fine, but not so highly valued by the traders as the red. The old one was very tame, and I killed her without difficulty. Two of the young I shot in the hole, and two escaped into a tree. I had but just shot them when there came along three men, attracted, probably, by the sound of my gun. As these men were very hungry, I took them home with me, fed them, and gave each of them a piece of meat to carry home. Next day I chased another bear into a low poplar tree, when I became convinced of the worthlessness of the gun I had from A-ke-wah-zains, for I shot fifteen times without killing the bear, and was compelled, at last, to climb into the tree and put the muzzle of my gun close to his head, before I could kill him. A few days afterwards, as I was hunting, I started at the same moment an elk and three young bears, and two of them fell. As I thought one or both of them must be only wounded, I sprang immediately towards the root of the tree, but had scarce reached it, when I saw the old she bear come jumping in an opposite direction. She caught up the cub which had fallen nearest her, and raising it with her paws, while she stood on her hind feet, holding it as a woman holds her child. She looked at it for a moment, smelled the ball hole which was in its belly, and perceiving it was dead, dashed it down, and came directly towards me, gnashing her teeth and walking so erect that her head stood as high as mine. All this was so sudden that I had scarce re-loaded my gun, having only time to raise it when she came within reach of the muzzle. I was now made to feel the necessity of a lesson the Indians had taught me, and which I very rarely neglected, namely, after discharging my gun, to think of nothing else before loading it again.

In about a month that I remained here, I killed, notwithstanding the poorness of my gun, twenty-four bears and about ten moose. Having now a great deal of bear’s fat which we could not eat, I visited the sunjegwun I had made, where I killed the twenty moose with seven balls, and put the fat into it. At length, when provisions became very scarce, I returned with my family to this place, expecting to live until spring on the meat I had saved, but I found that Wa-me-gon-a-biew, with his own family and several others, had been there, broken it open, and taken away every pound of meat. Being thus reduced to the apprehension of immediate starvation, I was compelled to go in pursuit of buffalo. Fortunately the severity of the winter now drove these animals in towards the woods, and in a very few days I killed plenty of them. I was now joined by Wa-me-gon-a-biew and other Indians. We were encamped at a little grove of trees in the prairie. It happened one night that the old woman, as well as several others of our family, dreamed of a bear close to our lodge. Next morning I searched for him, and found him in his hole. I shot him, and waiting a moment for the smoke to clear away, as I saw him lying at the bottom, I went down head foremost to draw him out. As my body partly filled the hole, and excluded the light, I did not perceive that he was alive until I laid my hand on him. He then turned and sprang upon me. I retreated as fast as I could, but all the way he was snapping his teeth so near me that I felt his breath warm on my face. He might have seized me at any moment, but did not. I caught my gun as I leaped from the mouth of the den, the bear pursuing me very closely. As soon as I thought I had gained a little distance, I fired behind me, and broke his jaw, and soon killed him. Afterwards I became more cautious about going down into bear’s holes before I had ascertained that the animals were dead. Late in winter the buffalo were so plenty about us that we killed them with bows, and caught some of the younger ones with nooses of leather.

As the sugar season came on we went to Pe-kau-kau-ne Sah-ki-e-gun[*], (Buffalo Hump Lake,) two days’ journey from the head of Pembinah River, to hunt beavers. We took our wives to the hunting grounds, but left old Net-no-kwa with the children to make sugar. It was now our object to kill beaver enough to enable us to purchase each a good horse, intending to accompany the war-party against the Sioux the ensuing summer. In ten days I killed forty-two large and fine beavers, and Wa-me-gon-a-biew about as many. With these we repaired to the Mouse River trading-house to buy horses. Mr. M’Kie had promised to sell me a very large and beautiful horse of his, which I had before seen, and I was much dissatisfied when I found the horse had been sold to the North West Company. I told him, since the horse had gone to the north west, the beavers might go there also. So crossing to the other side, I bought a large gray mare for thirty beaver skins. This was, in some respects, as good a horse as the other, but it did not please me as well. Wa-me-gon-a-biew also bought a horse from the Indians, and then we returned to Great Wood River to look for old Net-no-kwa, but she had gone to Red River, whither we followed her.

As we remained for some time at the mouth of the Assinneboin, many Indians gathered around us, and among others, several of my wife’s relatives, whom I had not before seen. Among these was an uncle who was a cripple, and had not for years been able to walk. As he had only heard that I was a white man, he supposed that I could not hunt. When he saw my wife, he said to her, “Well, my daughter, I hear you are married. Does your husband ever kill any game?” “Yes,” said she, “if a moose or an elk has lost his road, or wants to die, and comes and stands in his path, he will some times kill him.” “He has gone to hunt to-day, has he not? If he kills any thing I shall go and bring it in, and you will give me the skin to make some moccasins.” This he said in derision, but I gave him the skin of the elk I killed that day to make his moccasins, and continuing to be successful, I gave game to all my wife’s relatives, and soon heard no more of their ridicule. After some time, the game was exhausted, and we found it necessary to disperse in various directions. I went about ten miles up the Assinneboin, where we found two lodges under a man called Po-ko-taw-ga-maw, (the little pond.) These people were relatives of my wife. When we first arrived, the wife of Po-ko-taw-ga-maw happened to be cooking a moose’s tongue for her husband, who had not yet returned from hunting. This she gave us immediately, and would, perhaps, have farther relieved our distress had not the man then arrived. After this, they gave us nothing, though our little children were crying for hunger, and they had plenty of meat about their lodge. It was now too late, and I too much fatigued to go a hunting that evening, nevertheless I would not suffer the women to buy meat from them, as they wished to do. At the earliest appearance at dawn on the ensuing morning, I took my gun, and standing at the door of my lodge, I said purposely in a loud voice, “Can none but Po-ko-taw-ga-maw kill elks?” My wife came out of my lodge, and handed me a piece of dried meat, about as large as my hand, which she said her sister had stolen to give to her. By this time, many of the people had come out of the lodges, and I threw the piece of meat from me, among the dogs, saying, “Shall such food as this be offered to my children, when there are plenty of elks in the woods?” Before noon I had killed two fat elks, and returned to my lodge with a heavy load of meat. I soon killed great numbers of buffaloes, and we dispersed ourselves about to make dry meat, preparatory to leaving our families to go on the proposed war-party. We then returned to the woods to select some good elk and moose skins for moccasins. The skins of animals living in the open prairies are tender, and do not make good leather.

As we were one day travelling through the prairie, we looked back and saw at a distance a man loaded with baggage, and having two of the large Ta-wa-e-gun-num, or drums used in the ceremonies of the Waw-be-no. We looked to our young women for an explanation, as we soon recognized the approaching traveller to be no other than Pich-e-to, one of the band of inhospitable relatives we had lately left. The face of Skwaw-shish, the Bow-we-tig girl, betrayed the consciousness of some knowledge respecting the motives of Pich-e-to.

At this time, the Waw-be-no was fashionable among the Ojibbeways, but it has ever been considered by the older and more respectable men as a false and dangerous religion. The ceremonies of the Waw-be-no differ very essentially from those of the Metai, and are usually accompanied by much licentiousness and irregularity. The Ta-wa-e-gun used for a drum in this dance, differs from the Woin Ah-keek, or Me-ti-kwaw-keek, used in the Me-tai, it being made of a hoop of bent wood like a soldier’s drum, while the latter is a portion of the trunk of a tree, hollowed by fire, and having the skin tied over it. The She-zhe-gwun, or rattle, differs also in its construction from that used in the Metai. In the Waw-be-no, men and women dance and sing together, and there is much juggling and playing with fire. The initiated take coals of fire, and red hot stones in their hands, and sometimes in their mouths. Sometimes they put powder on the insides of their hands, first moistening them, to make it stick; then by rubbing them on coals, or a red hot stone, they make the powder burn. Sometimes one of the principal performers at a Waw-be-no, has a kettle brought and set down before him, which is taken boiling from the fire, and before it has time to cool, he plunges his hands to the bottom, and brings up the head of the dog, or whatever other animal it may be which had been purposely put there. He then, while it remains hot, tears off the flesh with his teeth, at the same singing and dancing madly about. After devouring the meat, he dashes down the bone, still dancing and capering as before. They are able to withstand the effects of fire and of heated substances by what they would persuade the ignorant to be a supernatural power, but this is nothing else than a certain preparation, effected by the application of herbs, which make the parts to which they are applied insensible to fire. The plants they use are the Wa-be-no-wusk, and Pe-zhe-ke-wusk. The former grows in abundance on the island of Mackinac, and is called yarrow by the people of the United States. The other grows only in the prairies. These they mix and bruise, or chew together, and rub over their hands and arms. The Waw-be-no-wusk, or yarrow, in the form of a poultice, is an excellent remedy for burns, and is much used by the Indians, but the two when mixed together seem to give to the skin, even of the lips and tongue, an astonishing power of resisting the effects of fire.

Pich-e-to, with his two Ta-wa-e-guns, at length came up and stopped with us. Old Net-no-kwa was not backward about inquiring his business, and when she found that his designs extended no farther than to the Bow-we-tig girl, she gave her consent to the match, and married them immediately. Next morning, Waw-be-be-nais-sa, who, as well as Wa-me-gon-a-biew had come with me from the mouth of the Assinneboin, killed a buck elk, and I a moose. I now made a change in my manner of hunting which contributed much towards the skill I finally acquired. I resolved that I would, whenever it was possible, even at the expense of the greatest exertions, get every animal I should kill at. When I came to look upon it as necessary that I should kill every animal I shot at, I became more cautious in my approaches, and more careful never to fire until my prospect of being able to kill was good. I made this resolution in the spring, and hunted much, and killed many animals during the summer. I missed only two that I fired at. It requires much skill, and great caution, to be able to kill moose at all, particularly in summer. As I began to be considered a good hunter, Waw-be-be-nais-sa became envious of my success, and often when I was absent, he went slily into my lodge, and bent my gun, or borrowed it under pretence of his own being out of repair, and returned it to me bent, or otherwise injured.

Very early in the spring, we had much severe thunder and lightning. One night, Pich-e-to becoming much alarmed at the violence of the storm, got up and offered some tobacco to the thunder, intreating it to stop. The Ojibbeways and Ottawwaws believe that thunder is the voice of living beings, which they call An-nim-me-keeg[*]. Some considering them to be like men, while others say they have more resemblance to birds. It is doubtful whether they are aware of any necessary connection between the thunder and the lightning which precedes it. They think the lightning is fire, and many of them will assert, that by searching in the ground at the root of the tree that has been struck, immediately after the flash a ball of fire may be found. I have myself many times sought for this ball, but could never find it. I have traced the path of the lightning along the wood, almost to the end of some large root, but where it disappeared I was never able to find any thing more in the soil than what belonged there. After the storm which I first mentioned, we found in the morning an elm tree still burning, which had been set on fire by the lightning. The Indians have a superstitious dread of this fire, and none of them would go to bring some of it, to replace ours which had been extinguished by the rain. I at last went and brought some of it, though not without apprehension. I had fewer fears than the Indians, but I was not entirely free from the same unfounded apprehensions which so constantly pursue them.

After we had killed and dried large quantities of meat, we erected a sunjegwun, or a scaffold, where we deposited as much as we thought would supply the wants of our women in our absence. Before we had entirely finished the preparations for our journey, we were fallen upon by a war-party of about two hundred Sioux, and some of our people killed. A small party of Assinneboins and Crees had already gone out towards the Sioux country, and falling by accident on the trace of this war-party of two hundred, had dogged them for some time, coming repeatedly near enough to see the crane’s head, used by their chief instead of stones, in the Ko-sau-bun-zitch-e-gun, or nightly divination, to discover the position of the enemy. This little band of Crees and Assinneboins had not courage enough to fall upon the Sioux, but they sent messengers to the Ojibbeways by a circuitous route. These came to the lodge of the principal chief of the Ojibbeways, who was hunting in advance of his people, but this man scorned to betray fear. By retreating immediately to the trader’s fort, he might have escaped the threatening danger. He made his preparations to move, but his old wife, being jealous of the younger one, which was now in higher favour than herself, reproached him, and complained that he had given more to the young woman than to her. He said to her, “You have for a long time annoyed me with your jealousy, and your complaints, but I shall hear no more of it. The Sioux are near, and I shall wait for them.” He accordingly remained, and continued hunting. Early one morning, he went up into an oak tree that stood near his lodge, to look out over the prairie for buffalo, and in descending he was shot from below by two young men of the Sioux that had been concealed there great part of the night. It is probable they would have fallen upon him sooner but for fear. Now the trampling of horses was heard, and the men who were with the chief had scarce time to run out of the lodge when the two hundred Sioux, on their horses, were at the door. One of the two runners who had come forward, and had been concealed in the hazel bushes, was an uncle of Wah-ne-taw[*], at present a well known chief of the Yanktongs, and the party was led by his father. Wah-ne-taw himself was of the party, but was then less distinguished than he has since become. The fight continued during the day. All the Ojibbeways, about twenty in number, being killed, except Ais-ainse, (the little clam,) a brother of the chief, two women, and one child.

Mr. H., the trader at Pembinah gave the Ojibbeways a ten gallon keg of powder, and one hundred pounds of balls, to pursue after the party that had killed the chief, his father-in-law. Of the four hundred men that started, one hundred were Assinneboins, the remaining three hundred Crees and Ojibbeways, with some Muskegoes. In the course of the first day after we left Pembinah, about one hundred Ojibbeways deserted and went back. In the following night, the Assinneboins left in considerable numbers, having stolen many horses, and, among others, four belonging to me and Wa-me-gon-a-biew. I had taken but seven pairs of moccasins, having intended to make the whole journey on horse back, and it was now a great misfortune for me to lose my horses. I went to Pe-shau-ba, who was chief of the band of Ottawwaws, to which I belonged, and told him that I wished to make reprisals from the few Assinneboins still belonging to our party, but he would not consent, saying very justly, that the dissension growing out of such a measure, on my part, might lead to quarrels, which would entirely interrupt and frustrate the designs of the whole party. His advice, though I knew it to be good as far as the interest of the whole was concerned, did nothing to remove my private grievances, and I went from one to another of the Ottawwaws, and those whom I considered my friends among the Ojibbeways, and endeavoured to persuade them to join me in taking horses from the Assinneboins. None would consent, but a young man called Gish-kau-ko[*], a relative of him by whom I was taken prisoner. He agreed to watch with me the thirteen Assinneboins remaining with our party, and, if an opportunity offered, to assist in taking horses from them. Soon after, I saw eight of these men lingering in the encampment one morning, and I believed it was their intention to turn back. I called Gish-kau-ko to watch them with me, and when most of the Ojibbeways had left camp, we saw them get on their horses, and turn their faces towards home. We followed after them, though they were well armed. As we knew we could not take their horses by violence, we threw down our arms in our camp and followed them with nothing in our hands. One of them stopped some distance in the rear of the retiring party, and dismounted to hold a parley with us, but they were too wary and cautious to give us any opportunity of taking their horses. We tried entreaties, and at last, as I saw there was no hope, I told them their five companions that were left in our camp would not be safe among us, but this, instead of having any good effect, only induced them to send a messenger on their swiftest horse to warn those men to beware of me.

We returned to the main party on foot, and took the first opportunity to visit the camp of the five remaining Assinneboins, but they were notified of our approach, and fled with their horses. At a lake near Red River, we found hanging on a tree in the woods, the body of a young Sioux, called the Red Thunder. We were now on the path of the retiring war-party which had killed our chief, and to which this young man had belonged. The Ojibbeways threw down the body, beat, kicked, and scalped it. Pe-shau-ba forbade me and the other young men of his party to join the Ojibbeways in these unmanly outrages. Not far from this place we found a prisoner’s pole, where they had danced some prisoners, which first convinced us that some of our friends had been taken alive. The trail of the party was still recent, and we thought ourselves but two or three days behind them.

At Lake Traverse, our number had diminished to one hundred and twenty. Of these, three men were half breed Assinneboins, about twenty Crees and as many Ottawwaws, the rest Ojibbeways. Many of the party had been discouraged by unfavourable divinations, among others one by Pe-shau-ba, the Ottawwaw chief, made on the first night after we left Pembinah. He told us that in his dream he saw the eyes of the Sioux, like the sun. They saw every where, and always discovered the Ojibbeways before the latter came near enough to strike them. Also that he had seen all our party returning, unharmed, and without scalps. But he said that on the left hand side of Lake Traverse, opposite our road, he saw two lodges of Sioux by themselves, which he intended to visit on his return.

Due west from Lake Traverse, and at the distance of two days’ travel, is a mountain called O-ge-mah-wud-ju, (chief mountain,) and near this is the village to which the party we were pursuing belonged. As we approached this mountain, we moved in a more cautious and guarded manner, most commonly lying hid in the woods during the day, and travelling at night. When at last we were within a few miles, we halted in the middle of the night, and waited for the approach of the earliest dawn, the time the Indians commonly choose for an attack. Late in the night, a warrior of high reputation called the Black Duck, took the reins of his horse’s bridle in his hand, and walked on towards the village, allowing me to accompany him. We arrived at early dawn at the little hill which sheltered our approach from the village. Raising his head cautiously, the Black Duck saw two men walking at some distance before him. He then descended the hill a little, and tossing his blanket in a peculiar manner, made a signal to the Ojibbeways to rush on. Then followed tearing off of leggins, stripping off of blankets, and in an instant the whole band leaped naked to the feet of the Black Duck. And now they moved silently, but swiftly, over the crest of the hill, and stood upon the site of the village. The two men when they discovered the war-party, instead of flying, came deliberately towards them, and presently stood before the leaders-two of the young men of their own band. They had left the party when they halted, and, without giving notice of their intention, gone forward to reconnoitre what they supposed to be the position of the enemy. They found the camp had been deserted many hours before, and when the party came up they were walking about, and scaring away the wolves from among the rubbish. The Sas-sah-kwi, or war whoop, was raised by the whole band as they rushed up. This loud and piercing shout intimidates and overcomes the weak, or those who are surprised without arms in their hands, while it rouses the spirit of such as are prepared for battle. It has also, as I have seen in many instances, a surprising effect upon animals. I have seen a buffalo so frightened by it as to fall down in his steps, being able neither to run, nor to make resistance. And a bear at hearing it, is sometimes so terror-stricken as to quit his hold, and fall from the tree in utter helplessness. The chiefs whom we followed were not willing to relinquish the objects of the journey, and we still followed, from day to day, along the recent trail of the Sioux. We found, at each of their encampments, the place of their ko-sau-bun-zitch-e-gun, from the appearance of which we were able to infer that they knew accurately our position from day to day. There was now manifest among the young men of our party a prevailing disposition to desert. This the chiefs laboured to prevent by appointing certain persons whom they could trust to act as sentinels, both in the encampments and during the marches. But this measure, though often tried, is always so far from being effectual, that it seems greatly to increase the number of desertions, perhaps because the young men despise the idea of restraint of any kind. They, on this occasion became more and more restless and troublesome after we had crossed over to the head of the river St. Peters in pursuit of the Sioux. The traders have a fort somewhere on the upper part of this river, to which the Sioux had fled. When we arrived within a day’s march of this place, fear and hesitancy became manifest nearly throughout the band. The chiefs talked of sending young men forward to examine the position of the enemy, but no young men offered themselves for the undertaking.

We remained some time stationary, and the opportunity was taken to supply the wants of some who were deficient in moccasins or other important articles. Any man who is on a war party, and whose supply of moccasins, or of powder and ball, or any other common and necessary article, has failed, takes a little of what he stands in need, and if it be moccasins, he takes a single moccasin in his hand, and walks about the encampment, pausing a moment before such of his companions as he hopes will supply his demand. He has no occasion to say any thing, as those who happen to have plenty of the article he wants, are commonly ready to furnish him. Should this method fail, the chief of the party goes from one man to another, and from those who have the greatest quantity, he takes as much as may be necessary of the article required. He is, on these occasions, dressed as for battle, and accompanied by two or three young warriors.

After a delay of two days on that part of our path nearest the Sioux trader’s fort, we all turned back, but not entirely relinquishing the object of our journey, we returned to the vicinity of the village at the Chief Mountain, hoping we might find some of our enemies there. We had many horses, and the young men rode so recklessly and noisily about, that there was no chance of coming near them. After leaving Chief Mountain, and proceeding some distance into the plain in our way towards home, we found we were followed by a party of about one hundred Sioux.

At the Gaunenoway, a considerable river which heads in the Chief Mountain and runs into Red River several days’ journey from Lake Traverse, Pe-shau-ba quarrelled with an Ojibbeway called Ma-me-no-guaw-sink, on account of a horse I had taken from some Crees who were the friends of the Assinneboins, by whom I had long before been robbed of mine. This man having killed a Cree, was now anxious to do something to gain friends among that people. It happened that Pe-shau-ba and myself were travelling together at a little distance from the main body, and I was leading the horse I had taken when Ma-me-no-guaw-sink came up to us, accompanied by a few friends, and demanded the horse. Pe-shau-ba, cocking his gun, placed the muzzle of it to his heart, and so intimidated him by threats and reproaches, that he desisted. The Ottawwaws, to the number of ten, now stopped, Pe-shau-ba remaining at their head, and fell in the rear of the main body in order to avoid farther trouble on account of this horse, all of them being apparently unwilling that I should relinquish it.

There were four men of this war party who walked, in six days, from the Chief Mountain to Pembinah, but our band, though many of us had horses, took ten days to travel the same distance. One of the four was an old man, an Ottawwaw, of Wau-gun-uk-kezze, or L’Arbre Croche. When I arrived at Pembinah, I found my family had gone down to the mouth of the Assinneboin. After the separation of our party, most of my particular friends having left my route at Pembinah, my horse was stolen from me at night. I knew who had taken him, and as the man was encamped at no great distance, I took my arms in my hands, and went in the morning to retake him. On my way I met Pe-shau-ba, who, without a word of enquiry, comprehended my purpose, and peremptorily forbade me to proceed. Pe-shau-ba was a good man, and had great influence with the people of his band. I might have gone on to take my horse, contrary to his positive injunction, but I did not choose to do so, and therefore returned with him on my way. I had now no moccasins, and felt so much irritated on account of the loss of my horse, that I could not eat. When I arrived at home, in two day’s walk from Pembinah, I found I was worn out with fatigue, my feet swollen and raw, and I found my family starving. Three months I had been absent, my time having been occupied in long and toilsome marches, all resulting in nothing.

It was necessary for me to go to hunt immediately, although the condition of my feet was such that I could not stand without great pain. I had the good fortune to kill a moose the first time I went out, on the morning after my return. The same day snow fell about two feet deep, which enabled me to kill game in great plenty.