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Show 50 APPENDIX TO PART I. w I 1en I V·I C''·' cd 1.t, 011 one of the islands below, appea. red the spotted Jodg·cs of the Red \tVing's band of Sioux. The ":lute t~euts of the tnHit;rS and my soldicrsl and three flags of the ~mted S.t~tes wa.vI• Il~ on t 11 c wat c1 ·, \vl11'cl1 1o>·. .'1 vc a contrast to the sllll and hiclcss Wll-dcmcss around and increased the pleasure of the prospect. 1 rom the C<:nnon river tu the ~t. C1•mx, the Mississippi evidently becomes narrower, and the navigation less obstructed by islands: The St. Croix river joins the Mississippi on tl~c- E. a.nd heat·s from t 11 c l attcr a 11 11 Ost (lue N • It is only 80 y• ards w• ide• at lls mouth, and 500 yards up com1ucnccs Lake St. Croix, w_lncl: IS from one .'.md a llalf to three miles wide, and 36 Jon~;. Tins nvcr commumca:cs with Luke SupC't ior by the llumt river, by a portage of half a nule on Iy , :me I m· 1'ts \vl1olc cxtcut has not one fall o1· Tajd.d worthy of no- ti· cc. 1~1 u·s , '"·1'tl1 the mildness of its current, and. Its. other .a dvan- tagcs, I'CncI c r l.t l)y "r. ar the most preferable commum. ca.t wn wh1ch can b(; had with theN. \V. from this part of our terntoncs. Its upper waters arc inhabited by the 1· ols A veins and Sautcaux,. who arc s~Jl~vlied by the agents of the l101'lh WCSt company ; and llS lower dlVl• sion by the Sioux and their traders. . . . The ,\1issi~~ippi from the Cannon nvcr 1s bounded on the E by high ridge~, but the left i:, low ground .. The ~imbcr is ~cne,ral.ly ash aud maple, except the cedar of the chffs. I· rom the St. Crouc to the river St.IJctcrs the Mississippi is collected into a nan·ow compass (I crossed it ut one place with forty strokes of my 0<1rs) and the navigation very good. The E. bank generally boun~c~ by the 1·ivcr rid~es, but the vV. sometimes timbered uottom or pramc. :he timber is generally maple, sugar-tree, and ash. About .twenty miles below the entrance of the river St. Peters, on the b. shore, at. a }Jlacc called the Grand Morais, is situated the Petit _cm·beau's village of eleven log houses. For a description of the nvcr St. PetcJ·s, set; the chmt herewith . From the river St. Peters to the falls of St. Anthony, the river is contracted between high hills, and is on.e co?· tinual rapid or fall, the bottom being covered with rocks wh1ch (m low water) arc some feet above the surfuce, leaving narrow chan· nels between them. The rapidity of the cul'l'cnt is likewise much augmented hy the numerous small rocky islands, which obst~·uct the navigation. The shores have ~nany large and beautiful sprmgs i.$suing forth, which form small cascades as they tumble ove: ,th.e cliiTs ~uto the Missil>sippi. The timber is generally maple. llus place we noted for the great quantity of wild fowl. As I ascend.etl the Mis~ s~ippi, the falls of St. Anthony did not strike me ~vith that tnajcstic ~l)peanmcc which I had. been taught to expect irom APPENDIX TO PART I. 51 the description of fot·mcr travellers. On an actual survey, 1 lind the portage to be 260 poles; but when the river is not very ]rnv, boats ascending may be put in 31 pole helow, at a lar~e ccclar u·ce;, which would reduce it to 229 poles. The hill over which the portage is made, is 69 feet ascent, with a11 elevation at the poit1L of tlebarkation of 1·5°. The fall of the \vatct· between the place of debarkation and re .. Joading is 58 feet; the perpendicu lar fall of the shoot 16 1-2 feet. The width of the rivc1· above the shoot 627 y.lrds ; below 209. For the fot·m of the shoot, sec a rough draug ht IH·rcwith. In high water, the appeat'ance is much more suhlim ·, as the great quantity of watet· then forms a spray, which in clear weather reflects from some positions the colors of the rainbow, and when the sky is o'cl·cast, covc1· the taUs i11 gloom and chaotic majesty. From the Falls of t. Anthony to Rum river, the Missi!>sippi is almost one continual chain of rapids, with the eddies formed by winding channels. lloth sides are p1·ait·ie, and scarcely any timber but small groves of scrub oal~. Rum river is about 50 yards wicle at its mouth, and takes its source in Le Mille Lac, which is but 35 miles S. of Lower Red Cedar Lake. The small Indian canoes ascend this river quite to the lake, which is considered as one of the best fur hunting grounds fo1· some hundreds of miles ; and has been long a scene of !'encounters between the hunting parties of the Sioux and Sautcaux. The last winter a numbc t· of the Fols Avoins and Sioux, and some Sautcaux, wintered in that quaJ'tCJ'. From Rum river to Leaf river, (called by futhc t· Ilcnnipin and Carver, the river St. Francis, and was the extent of their travels) the prairies continue with a few interruptions. The timber scrub oak, with now and then a lonely pine. Previous to your arrival at Leaf l'ivcr, you pass Crow river on the ,V, about 30 yards wide, which bears from the Mississippi S. ,V, Leaf river is only a small stream of not more than 15 yanls over, and bears N. by 'V. The elk begin to be very plenty; some buffalo, quantities of deer, racoons, and on the prairie a fl.!w of the animals called by the French brclaws. From thence to Sac river, a little above the Grand Rapids, boOt sides of the river arc generally prairie, wfth skirts of scrub oak.· The navigation stiU obstructed with ripples, but with some intermissions of a few miles. At the Grand Rapids the river expands itself to about 3-4 of a mile in width, (its general width not being more than 3-5 of a mile) and tumbles over an unequal bed of rocks for about two miles, through which there cannot be said to be any channel: for not with- |
