Account of expeditions to the sources of the Mississippi, : and through the western parts of Louisiana, to the sources of the Arkansaw, Kans, La Platte, and Pierre Jaun Rivers

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APPENDIX TO PART l. [ No. 3. ] CONFERENCES N D!ANS ON A VOY AG F.. UP TJI}, H E L D WI 1' H lH I" F' E H F. NT B A N D S 0 :f l ' . , ~ RS 18()5 AND 1806. MJSSJS3ll'Pl, IN 'l Hl!. Yl.A - Sjlf'Crh ddrc., f'1'Cd to tht: s·r ou.r, a t thf' entrance of the ,.h,cr St. F etcr's, 23d St'jitember, I 805. n . . -I am h appy to meet you here at this council fit·c, no1nEns . 1 , lt take yon bythe which our father has sent me to lund c, unc o . 1 . l · .y. our children. \Vc having but latc>ly ac~\llrctl from the -.h ltH s· ,,s . f L .. ·. , -Our o·cncral hac; 1 1 ·tcnsivc tcrntory o ont•nana. ,..., St1an1s 1 t \e ex · t isit , 1 1 t proper to ">CtHI ou t a nllmhcr of his '1 'ottn~ want0rs o v ~ ,\o~:~ ~·c<l children-to tell them his will, ancl to hear what ~cqucst '\ . ,. have to make of their father. I am happy the chm~? has t tcy 1\ ·'Y I. . . l . as I find my brother's, the ~loux, fell on 111C tO COni' t HS l O.\C ' • ready to listrn to my ·words. . ul' ·I 11 i. BnoTntms - l i. ic; the ''ish of our V!;Ovcrnmcnt to csta ~s: 1 l l't . ost's on th Upper Mississippi, nt such places as nhg lt >cl I at y p . . . , 1 .. ·I' . , rxaminccl the country, an< thou~ht cxprchcnt--1 h,t\ c, t Itt c ot c, . . . . . 1· , . I . f 1,: ·St 'rOtx. ll\lsp .tcc.w< have pitchc·d o H the mouth o t te tiV CI , • 1 U i t1:c falls of St. .Anthony-l therefor·, wish you to gt.'::m\:o t ~~.0~1 ~ trd States nine mil s sguarc, at St Croix, and at this. p .ac~, ~ t a ka~\IC bel'o w the confluence o f t 1 St P<'trr's ancl :\1Lsstsstppl , o 1C , . . • • . h &ide of lca~\tC abo,·e St. Anthony, extending three lca~ucs on c,tc-1 to have the. river· and as we arc a peop lc who ·•w e accustotneu . ·Ill . o ut· ac' ts . I I. thetH handed to oul \'ri'Otc do\\ n, tn on ('I' to mvc . .'\1 c· hildren-{ have dr,\\\'11 up a form o f an a~re'c t ncnt ' wh1c.h [w e . WI both ~i~n in the presence o f t Iw tt...t <1 e, t. s 11 ow present. • A tct wde know the term<; we w.i ll ru. ll .l t up, l l . . it read and mtcrpretc alH h\\ e to you. fi The BH oTtl ~-:n c;-Thosc posts arc intended as a bene . t to you. . ()lcl · · · proves bv a rllids now pr<'sent nntst sec, thn~ thctr ~tluat~on 111~ Uni;ed . .. ,· ' vith the whitc!-i. It IS the mtcnuon ol the \'01\1111\llllC<I Hllo \ j' . 1\l'l}' , J l' I . t those l)oc;ts factories, in which the In< HillS ' St.~testo cs "), t o., I •' . . ' . I tlo now . . , ·<· 'llltllcir thitlll·s at a cheaper ancl better rate th:~n t tcy . , pt0(\11 ' · •' J '\l'C~lll· . tl n) o ll l' tr.ld~:rs <'ttn dl'urd to ~cllthcrn to )Oll, as t tcy • . ot' ,,, H . tr fathers arc lnanv vle lH Cll \\ ho COI\!C {',u· in Stn<tl\ boats. \ll ~Ol v APPENDIX TO P AHT I. 7 and strong, ancl will come with a strong arm, in ]arg·e boats. There will ulso be chiefs het·c, who can attend to the wan ~s of their bro­thers, without their sending or going all the way to St. Louis, and will sec the traders that go up your rivers, and know that they arc good men. DnoniEns-Another object your father has at heart, is to cn­< leavour to make peace between you and the Chipcway's. You have now been a long time at war, unci when will you stop ? If ncitheL· side will lay down the hatchet, your paths will always b · red witll. blood; but if you wilJ consent to make peace, und su(I'er you1· father to bury the hatchet between you, l will cndeavout·to b1ing down some of the Chipcway chiefs with me to St. Louis, where the good " 'ork can be completed, under the auspices of your mutual f.1ther. I am much pleased to sec that the young warriors have halted here to hear my words this day; and as [ know it is hard for a warrior to be ~truck and not strike ag-ain, I will send t by the first Chipeway I meet) W•H'd to thci1· chiefs :-That, if they have not yet felt youl' tontahawk, it is not because you have 110 legs or the hcal'ls of men, but because you have listened to tile voice of you r father. llHO'J'HElls-If the chiefs do not listen to the voice of thei1· father, and continue to commitmur·dei'S on you aud our traders, they will call down the vengeance of the A me t icans; fot· they arc uot like a blind man walking into the fire. They \\ et·e once at wa1· wi th us, and joined to all the not·tltcm Indians, were defeated at Roche De llreuf, ant.! were obliged to sue for peace-that peace we ~ran ted ther11. They know we are uot children, !Jut, like all wise people, arc ~low to shctl blood. BROTHEHs.-Your oltl men probably know, that about 30 years ago, we we re subject to, unci go,·crned by the kin~ of the English; but he not treat ing us like children, we would no longer acknO\\. ledge him as father- and after ten years war, in which he lo~l 100,000 men, he acknowledg d us a free and indepencltnt nation. They know tha not rnany years since, we received Detroit, Mic hi­limackinac, and all the po~ts on the lakes from the English, and now but the other da.y, Loui~iana from the Sj,anish ; ~o that we put oue foot on the ~ea at the cast, and the other on the sea at the west; aucl if once children, arc now men; yet, I think, the trade rs who come f1·om CatHida arc bad birds among~t the Chipeway , and instig-ate them to make wat· on tit ' ir red brothers the Sioux, in o rder to prc­veut Ol\1' tradc1·s from goin g- hig-h up the l\1i~~is~ippi. This I shull enc1uire into, tU1d if ~o, WJI'll those pcr::;ous of theu· ill '"onduct.