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THE

NEW-YORK REVIEW.

JULY, 1825.

ART. IX.-Travels in the Central Portions of the Mississippi Valley: comprising Observations on its Mineral Geography, Internal Resources, and Aboriginal Population. [Performed under the sanction of Government, in the year 1821.] By HENRY R. SCHOOLCRAFT. New-York. Collins and Hannay.

1825.

MR. SCHOOLCRAFT is already well known to the public, as the author of several interesting and instructive treatises, on the geography and natural history of various portions of our western territory. Among these, may be particularly noticed, his View of the Lead Mines of Missouri, a work, which first gave us any valuable information, with regard to the mineral wealth of that region of country; for neither Stoddard, nor Shultz, nor Breckenridge, nor even Austin himself, wrote with sufficient exactness or detail. Mr. Schoolcraft's Narrative Journal, is an interesting diary of travels through the northwestern districts of the United States, extending from Detroit, through the great chain of American lakes, to the sources of the Mississippi river. The objects of that journey, (which, like the present, was directed and superintended with great ability by Governor Cass,) were, to obtain a correct knowledge of the history, the habits, and the prevailing dispositions of the Indian tribes; to purchase the ground for a garrison at the foot of lake Superior; to collect the materials for an accurate map of the country, and to examine the more remarkable copper and lead mines, and quarries of gypsum, in that part of the northwestern territory, which the expedition had undertaken to explore. The results of that investigation, cannot of course be compared, with the fruits of the magnificent but expensive expeditions, suggested by the vanity of European princes, and upheld by the compulsory contributions of their subjects; but they are certainly very creditable to the gentlemen connected with the party, and greatly surpass what might have been reVOL. I.

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garded as proportionate to the necessary economy of our national expenditure.

The object of the journey, of which the volume before us is a diary, was to purchase from the Ottowa, Chippewa, and Pottowattomie tribes, the land lying between the northern boundary line of the state of Indiana, and the main branch of the Grand River of lake Michigan. This constitutes the southwestern portion of the peninsula of Michigan, and comprises an extent of fertile territory, capable of supporting a very dense agricultural population. It is not a little remarkable, that until lately, the interior of this peninsula was considered altogether unworthy of the notice of the emigrant.* The shores of lakes Huron and Michigan exhibited, in most places, a forbidding line of arid pine-land; and the certainty of abundance of fertile soil, south of latitude forty-two, made an inquiry into the quality of the less accessible territory scarcely worth the toils and risks of exploration. Another circumstance, to which we think may be attributed the neglect of this part of Michigan, is the want of the facilities of internal navigation; the territory being traversed by no rivers of a larger size than the Saganaut and Grand River of Michigan. The St. Joseph's and Miami, (or Maumee, as Mr. Schoolcraft spells it, to distinguish it from the Miami of the Ohio,) are considerable streams, but they are principally confined to the southern sections of this territory. The smaller streams (particularly those which empty into lake Michigan) are, however, so numerous as to afford, when the country is once settled, abundant compensation for the want of larger water courses.

"The greater part of the newly explored lands," says Mr. Schoolcraft, "consists of an argillaceous soil, mellowed with sand and pebble-stones, and clothed with an open growth of oaks and hickories, forming the much esteemed open oak-lands, so favorable to all the staple products of temperate northern latitudes. These oak-lands frequently present themselves to the eye in sloping ridges, with apparently measured interstices between the trees, and together with the larger dry prairies, are principally covered with a species of native grass, of a nutritious quality, which grows to the height of five or six feet, and is

* In a map drawn in 1744, by Bellin, a French hydrographer, from data furnished by Charlevoix and others, the interior of Michigan is marked Terrain plus élevé, and this is the amount of the knowledge we possessed of its geography until the close of the last war.

Emptying into Saganau Bay, the Anse de Saguinam of Charlevoix.

judged to be nearly equal to timothy for cattle. The intervening valleys, enriched with the alluvial wash of the hills, constitute the first rate corn-lands, and are finely timbered with maple, beech, black walnut, bois blanc,* and ash."

Capable as those lands are of supporting a large agricultural population, the gradual failure of game has greatly diminished their value to the Indian tribes who inhabit them. It is a striking illustration of the immense advantages of civilized life, that at the very moment when the natives are preparing to abandon a territory, which no longer furnishes their scanty numbers with the means of subsistence, a mass of white population is moving gradually in, without doubting, for an instant, their capacity to extract from this deserted soil all the necessaries and conveniences of life, which an almost unlimited increase of their numbers may require. Portions of this extensive tract had been already ceded to the United States, by the treaties of Spring Wells, St. Mary's, and Saginau. To effect the purchase of that part which is situated between Indiana and Grand River, Governor Cass and Solomon Sibley were, in the year 1821, commissioned by the President to meet the Indians at Chicago, and to this commission Mr. Schoolcraft was appointed secretary.

There are three ways of reaching Chicago from Detroit ;first, by ascending the River Raisin, and then following an Indian trail the rest of the way; secondly, by the circuitous route of the lakes; and thirdly, by the still more indirect process of descending the Wabash and Ohio to the Mississippi, and then going up the Illinois to the ford of the Desplaines. This last route, although, perhaps, seven hundred miles longer than the first, was preferred by the commissioners, because the business of the government required the presence of one of them on the Wabash, and it was thought that the opportunities of examining the geography and natural history of an interesting country, yet but partially known, would compensate for the increased toil, and justify the additional expense.

Accordingly, on the third of July, the party left Detroit, and reached Port Lawrence, at the mouth of Maumee Bay, at eight o'clock in the evening. In ascending the Maumee, they en

*Liriodendron.

The St. Joseph's will one day furnish a more convenient route for the trade between Chicago and Detroit. In the meantime, an act of Congress has been passed, authorizing a road between these places, and the commissioners, we understand, commenced their operations on the 20th of May last.

About one hundred and twenty-five years ago, this was the seat of a

tered upon a country, rendered interesting by the recollection of the events of the Indian wars of 1791-94 and 1812-14. They passed, in succession,-Fort Maumee, where the Indians were so liberally supplied, during the former period, with arms and ammunition by the British,-Fort Meigs, before which General Proctor was obliged to retire in 1813,-Maumee village, near which the gallant Dudley and his followers, fell victims to their own indiscreet impetuosity,-Presqu' Isle, where General Wayne terminated the war of '94, by the memorable victory over the confederated forces of the Ottawas, Miamis, Delawares, Shawanese, Chippewas, and Pottowattomies,-Roche debout, the site of Old Fort Deposite,-Fort Defiance, once the principal rendezvous of the hostile Indians of the west, and Fort Wayne, at the fork of the St. Mary's and St. Joseph's, near which, in 1790, Col. Harden's troops were cut. to pieces, in an engagement with the tribes on the Wabash and Miami.* Mr. Schoolcraft has accompanied the narrative of his journey, through this interesting region, with an account of the Indian wars, more minute, it will probably be thought, than is required by the plan of a work, which should have been rather scientific than historical. We shall therefore pass over these details, and touch only at those points of the journal of our traveller, where he has given such information as will be acceptable to the general reader.

In riding to Fort Wayne, Mr. Schoolcraft was struck with the quantity of honey dew, which was to be found on the leaves of the oak, maple, and sumach. He is inclined to think, that the origin of this curious excretion is not always to be referred to the aphis or blighter, and states, that he repeatedly examined this substance, without observing the presence of this insect. We had always thought, that it was not the honey dew itself that is

Jesuit mission, under Father Mermet, who laboured in the good cause, with all the zeal characteristic of the sect to which he belonged; " mais ce Père," says Charlevoix, " trouva un peuple indocile, superstitieux à l'excès, et que les Jongleurs gouvernaient despotiquement." These intractable heathens were afterwards cut off by an epidemic disease, which the pious historian ascribes, as usual, to the courroux du ciel.

* During the late war, Fort Wayne was besieged for some time by the Indians. The fort, which was overlooked by several heights within gun shot, could not have held out a day against artillery. This the besiegers very well knew, and as they had no field-pieces, they attempted the following stratagem:-they cut a log to the shape of a cannon, painted it black, placed it on one of the heights which commanded the fort, and then summoned the garrison to surrender. The commanding officer was deceived, but refused to comply, and the Indians then abandoned the siege.

to be examined, but the under surface of the leaf, immediately above that upon which the dew is found; and there we are assured by Mr. Curtis, (an attentive inquirer into the habits of the aphides,) these insects are always to be found.

While at the village round Fort Wayne, the party had an opportunity of visiting the Indian School, under the superintendence of Mr. M'Coy, a Baptist missionary. The account given by Mr. Schoolcraft of this school is not very flattering, but perhaps more has been accomplished, than might fairly have been expected, from the difficulties which must attend the instruction of children, unaccustomed to confinement or restraint, and unacquainted with the language of their teachers. Since Mr. Schoolcraft saw the school, it has been transferred to the Carey station on the St. Joseph's of lake Michigan, where it was visited by major Long and his party, in the year 1823. It is highly creditable to the head and heart of Mr. M'Coy, that he does not think it necessary to initiate his pupils in the august mysteries of our holy faith, until he has instructed them in the arts of civilization. One great impediment in the way of christianizing an uncivilized Indian, is the pertinacity with which he insists, that in the next world, we shall be judged by our good works, and not by our opinions; an error which is the natural concomitant of ignorance, and which can never be removed, until the mind is strengthened and expanded by habits of intellectual exercise. The establishment at Carey station promises much greater success, than the original school at Fort Wayne, and we are glad to hear, that the institution receives the countenance of the most respectable among the Indians; there being in the school two of the grandchildren of Topeneebeh, the great hereditary chief of the Pottowattomies.*

About forty miles from Fort Wayne, on the banks of the river St. Mary's, captain Riley, the author of the affecting book of travels, has taken up his residence, and laid out a town, which, in gratitude to his great benefactor, he has denominated Willshire.

* For a very interesting account of the proficiency of Mr. M'Coy's pupils, and of the customs and capacities of the Pottowattomies generally, we refer our readers to the Narrative of Major Long's Second Expedition to the Sources of St. Peter's.

Mr. Keating, who saw the captain at Fort Wayne, in 1823, makes his settlement only fourteen miles from that place. The spot he has selected, is stated to be the only one that affords a water power, within fifty miles of Fort Wayne.

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