| OCR Text |
Show 12 APPEND IX TO PART I. preter, and from thence forward _h_as continued to cvi_nce .a zeal to promote the success of my exped1t10n, by every n:eans m Ius power. He is a V crmonter born, and although not possessmg the aclvanta~cs of a polished education, inherits that, without which ~ an education serves but to add to the frivolity of the character, candor, bravery, and that amor patria, which distinguishes the good of every natiou, from Nova Zcmbla to the line. Finding that the "tt·aders were playing the devil with their rum ; I ycstct·day in coun~il infor.mcd the Indians that thcit· father had prohibited the sclhng of IirJilOI' to them ' ~nd that they would oblige him and serve thems.e lves. , if they would prevent their young men from paying the cr~cllts o[ <II~Y _t ra-ders who sold rum to them, at the same time charglllg the chtels to treat them well; as their father although good, would not again fot·give t hem, but punish with severity any injuries con1mitte.d .on theit• traders. This I presume, general, is agreeable to the spll'll of the laws. 1\lr. Frazer immediately set the exaHlplc, by separating his spirits from the merchandize in his IJoats, and rcturnin~; it to the Prairic-althou~-;h it would materially injut·e him if the other traders retained tlleirs and sold. In fact, unless there arc some persons al our posts here, (when established) who have authority cfl'e ctually to 5top the evil by confn;cating the lic.1uors, &c. it will still be continued by the weak ami malevolent. I shall forbear giving you a description of this place until my return, except only to observe, that the position for the ~ost, is in the point between the two rivers, wltich equally commands both; and at St. Croix on the hill on the lower side of the entrance on the E. bank of the Missi 'sippi; owin ~ to cloudy weather, &c. I have taken no observation here; but the head of Lake Pepin is in 44° 581 811 N. nnd we have made very little northing since. The Mis· sis5ippi is 130 yards wide, and the St. Peters 80 yards a~ their conOHcncc. 24th Sr'j1t.-This moming the Little Corbeau came to sec me from the vill<l g'C, (he havin~ recover dan article, which I suspected to be taken by the Indians) he told me many things which the ceremony of the council would not permit his delivering there; and achled, he mn5t tell me, that l\11'. Roche, who went up the river St. J>ct rs, hacl in his presence ~~ave two kc{~!:i of rum to the Indiam; he (the chief) nsked him" why he did so, as he knew it was con" rury to the ordcr!:i of his father; that :\lcssrs. 1\larcir and Tremcr " hac.llcft thcit· rum behind them. but that he alone had rum contrary "to the onkrs." lie then g-a' c the chid' I .5 bottle-, of rum, as I sup- APPENDIX TO PART I. I:.; pose to brilJe him to silence. I presume he should be tan~ht the impropriety of his conduct, when he applies fot· his licence the next year. 26th Sejlt. abo11e the .falt.9 of St. Anthony. The cloudy weather still continues, and I have not l;ccn able to to take the latitude Mr. Frazer has been kind cnou~;h to send two o~ his people .~cross from the <.)ioux town, on the St. Peters, for my dispatches, and the place being dang-erous fot· them, l must haste to dispatch them ; of course, general, the following- short sketch of the falls, will mere ly be from le coujl d'~Puil. The place where the river falh;, over the rocks, uppca1·s to IJe ;.1bout 15 feet peq>cnclicular, the sheet bciug broken IJy one la rg-e islund on the E. and a small one on the VV • the former commencing-IJelow tltc shoot, and extending 50() yar·cls above ; the rivet· then f<dls through a continued bed of rocks, with a descent of at least 50 feet perpendicular in the course of half a mile-from thcucc to the St. Peters, a distance of eleven miles ~y water, there i~ almo~t one continued rapid, aggravated by the Intel'l'uption of 12 s tllall blands. The cany in ~ place lms two hills, one of 25 feet, the othet· I 21 with an elevation or 45°, and is about three founlts of a mile in length. Above the shoot, the river is of a considerable width, but below, (at this tinrc ) I can easily cast a stone over it. The rttpids or suck, continues about hull' a mile above the shoot, when the wate1· becomes calm ancl de p. ~ly bat·g ·s arc not yet over, but nty trucks arc preparing, and I have not the le<.~st doubt of succeeding-. The g·cner~d, I hope, will pardon the tantologies and egotisms of my commauications, as he well knO\\<S Indian all'airs arc procl uct. ive of such enors, ~111d thut in a wilderness, detached from the civi~ tzcd wol'id every thing, ve11 if of little import, becomes ma~niliccl lll the eyes of the beholder, and when I add, my hands arc IJlistered in wor)\iug- ove r the rapids, I presume it will apologise fo1· the manllCJ' and style of my cotunJunications. I am, g-e neral, Your obedient scn•ant, (Signed) Z. 1\t. PIKJ.-;1 Lt. Gmcral 1Vill.:in8ou. N. ll. l Hatter myself with hearing from you at the Prairie, ou my way cl<J\"1-n. |
