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HENRY ROWE SCHOCLCRAFT

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Fraser C Paterson
1936

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THE LIFE

of

HENRY ROWE SCHOOLCRAFT

by

FRASER CLAN PATERSON

A Thesis Submitted to the Graduate Faculty
in Partial Fulfillinent of the Requirements
for the Degree of

MASTER of ARTS

DEPARTMENT of ENGLISH

MICHIGAN STATE COLLEGE

1 9 3 6

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I wish to express my eineere appreciation
to Dr. Claude N. Harlin of the Michigan
State College faculty for directing my
attention to Henry Rove Schooloraft and
aleo for the invaluable aid and construct-
ive criticism that he wee at all timel
quick to offer.

II
III
IV

VI
VII
VIII
IX

XI
XII
XIII

C O N T E N T S

PREFACE

INTRODUCTION eeeeeeeeeEeeeeeeo

YOUTHFUL DAYS AND EDUCATION ..............

WESTERN TRAVELS AND NARRATIVE JOURNALS ...
EXPLORING WITH GENERAL case ....... .......
SAULT STE. MARIE AND THE INDIANS .........

THE ORACLE OF PA‘WA-TING eeeeee

TO THE SOURCE or THE MISSISSIPPI .........

THE ISLAND OF HICHILIMACKINACK ......

THE MAN OF BRONZE AND OTHER POETRY .......

THE ALGIC RESEARCHES AND ONEOTA ..........

HISTORIAN OF THE REDMN ......OOCOOOOOOIO

THE SONG OF HIAWATRA ..... ...... . .........
CONCLUSION ........ ...................... .
CHROHOLQGY eeeee eeeeeeeee eeeeee e eeeeeee 0

GENERAL BIBLIOGRAPHY .... ..... ...

SGHOOLCRAFT'S WRITINGS .

103
112
128
133
136
140
143

PREFACE

M long ee there are Amcrican schools and American
school children, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow'e gong 91 am
will undoubtedly continue to be read and re—reed oountleee
timee. Poeeibly in the future, even as in the pest, eone in-
quisitive pupil will aek, Where did Longfellow get the story
of Hiawatha.”

Either the notes to the poem or the teacher will probe-
bly state that Longfellow obtained hie material from o. lien
‘ named Schoolcraft. To the succeeding and perfectly natural
question, “Who wae Schooloraft‘f' it ie doubtful whether teacher
or notee will give conclusive answers, because, unfortunately,
except for brief and often inaccurate1 enoyolopedie eooounte.
little hoe been written about the life end work; of thie early
American literary figure.

This etudy, therefore, will attempt to give between
one eet of covere euch collected information and interpretation
of Henry Rowe Schoolcreft as can be found elsewhere only
through the arduous perusal of many volumes. 1! from examining
these salient facts of his life and writings the reader is
better able to realize Schoolcraft'e worth and place in the
field of incrioen literature, thie theeie will achieve ite

purpose.

 

I. Even euch e. learned work so the W of America B o-
m (Vol. XVI, p.457) makes the error of stating that J‘-
Sohooloraft'e first wife wee e quarter-breed Indian. According
to Sohooloraft (mm. p.431) she was e. half-breed, being
the daughter of O-ehe-wueh-ko—de-wa-qua, a full-blooded
Chippewa Indian equew and John Johnston, a white men.

CHAPTER I

I N T R O D U C T I O H

‘To the American people of today it hardly seems
possible that only a century ago the middle western regions of
the United States were still frontier. Only small groups of
log cabins huddled closely to stockaded forts marked the sites
of the now teeming cities of Detroit and Chicago. The fact is
that in 1812 the territory of Michigan contained scarcely five
thousand white people} This figure takes on new meaning when
it is recalled that the hichigan territory of that day in.
cluded not only the present upper and lower peninsulae, but
also all of what is now the state of Wisconsin.

The other inhabitants of this great region were Indians--

Indians of a thoroughly heterogenoue mixture of tribes and
nations? For many years the steadymsettling of the seaboard
states had gradually forced the eastern tribes to the west and
north. The migratory routes followed were the waterways of '

the Ohio, the St. Lawrence, the tributary streams of the Great
Lakes, and the Great Lakes themselves. is a result. therorigb
inal tribes of hichigan became considerably augmented by the
encroaching eastern Indians, thus giving Michigan a numerous

and diversified Indian pepulation.

 

w A“

1. Menard Hndreth. am or IE2 untied spam sf. m.
Vol. VI, p.338.

2. 3.1!.Igtloy. Wuamflsfl. Manama.
o . , p.155.

Several settlements, chiefly those of Detroit, Hichil-
imackinaok, and Sault Ste. Marie, became prominent as focal
points in the administration of Indian affairs as then prac-
ticed by the Federal government. It was customary to establish
agencies at these points under the supervision of a white man
called the Indian Agent. .813 duties centered about the task
of keeping the war-loving aborigines at peace with both their
red and white neighbors. It was as one of these Indian Agents
that Henry Sohoolcraft spent twentg years of his life living
and travelling throughout the Northwest until he came to know
the Indians and their ways better than any other white man of
his time.

It is the recordings of his observations of Indians
made while at Sault Ste. Marie and Nichilimackinack, to-
gether with the narratives of adventures that befell him on
many trips of erploration that constitute the bulk of School-
craft'e literary efforts.

Too often Schooloraft's contribution to American
literature has been considered only in the light of his having
provided Longfellow with the raw material for the ggggflgfi
giawathg. Paradoxical as it may seem, not only have the
critics seen fit to limit Schoolcraft's worth to this supply-
ing of the raw material, but they have also seen fit to heap
approbrium upon his head for confusing the‘Ircquois statesmn,

4

Hiawatha, with the OJibway deity, Nanabasho and thus causing

 

5. hassles. p.702.

4. Stith Thompson, “The Indian Legend of Hiawatha! Publiggtigng
g£_the Modern Language Associat on, Vol. XXXVII, pp.128-40.

Longfellow to make the same error.

It cannot be too strongly stressed that Schoolcraft's
writings do not need the aid of Longfellow's Hiawatha to en—
dure, for they played an independent and important part in
the awakening of the American consciousness that took place
during those early years of the nineteenth century when School-
craft lived and wrote.

It was Schoolcraft who first pOpularised the scienti-
fically written travel narrative. Until he published his
'A Eigw of thg Egag_gine§ g1,Misgog;i in 1819, no such work
had ever been attempted. In this respect, if in no other,
Schoolcraft was truly a pioneer, and as such, deserves the
credit that later generations of critics seem reluctant to give
him. To the twentieth century the scientific search for know-
ledge is purely a matter of course, but to the early nineteenth
century scientific research was scarcely known. A statement
of Schoolcraft's made at the time he was asked to lead the
scientific corps of a proposed United States Exploring Expedi~
tion to the South Seas will illustrate admirably the temper of
the scientific knowledge of that day:

The erperiments of Dr. Maskelyn denote a greater

specific gravity in the central portions of the

globe, than in its crust, and consequently do not

favor the theory advocated by Mr. R., of an interior

void. Yet we are advertieied, by the phenomena of
earthquakes, that this interior abounds with oxygen,
hydrogen gas, calorie, and sulphuric; and that extra-
ordinary geological changes are effected by their

action. It does seem improbable that the preposed
expedition will trace any open connection with such

an interior void; but it may accumulate facts of the
highest importance.5

When it is seen that people on a high level of learning were
still toying with the possibility of an existing passageway
to the interior of the globe, the quality of the average
man's thinking of that time appears a little more understand-

able.

 

5. Henry Rowe Schoolcraft, zergona; gemoigg (1851), p.283.

CHAPTER II

YOUTHFUL DAYS AHD EDUCATION

Henry Rowe Schoolcraft1 was born on March 28, 1793,
somewhere in the southern part of Albany county, Bew York?
After he had spent ten years of boyhood little different from
that of the average lad of his time, his family moved further
north in the same county to the village of Hamilton, at which
place Henry was to remain for the next six years. At the
time Schoolcraft's family arrived in Hamilton the village
was noted for its extensive glass manufacturing works,3 the
direction of which was to become the charge of Henry's-father,

4
Colonel Lawrence Sohooloraft, veteran of many a Revolution-

ary skirmish.5

1. Originally the Schoolcraft family name had been caloraf?
and it was as such in the person of James Calcraft,
soldier, that the line came to America early in the reign
of George the Second. After campaigning against the French
of Canada, Calcraft settled in Albany County, then frontier
country, raised a family, and became the master of the
first English school of that region. It was probably on
account of James Caloraft‘s schoolmastering, that succeed-
ingfgenerations of the family came to be known as School-
cra .

Allihaaaia W 9.1 sateen. p.1951.
Memoirs, p.xxxiii.
- Mo s p.11X1V.

One of these exploits was later to become the subJect of

Henry's Siege and Defense of For: Stanwiguede).

(”thaw

The village of Hamilton was beautifully situated.upon
one of the tributaries of the Towasentha and was surrounded on
three sides by a picturesque range of the Catskill Mountains
called the Helderberg.6 Not far from Hamilton passed the
ancient Iroquois war and trading path, and although in 1800 it
was no longer used by the Indians, they having migrated to the
north and west, its signs and traditions were still fresh
enough to deeply interest young Henry Sohoolcraft. Although
Henry loved to roam the mountainsides, it was not to the
neglect of his studies. In fact he was so diligent at his
schoolwork that by the time he was twelve the village school-
master, a Mr. Robert Buchanan,7 was forced to confess to the
boy's father that he had taught the lad all that he was able
to and that any further time spent in the local school would
be unavailing. Therefore, Colonel Schoolcraft at once took
steps to secure a tutor to prepare Henry for entrance to
Union College.8

At the age of thirteen Henry commenced the writing of
poetry, but as he grew older be destroyed the manuscripts9

of this early verse because he thought them too invenile. In

addition to studying and writing poetry, he also found thee

 

6. Schoolcraft has two poems inspired_b the landscapes of
£221.; 328313.39- 133W (1895 and 11.1.: 12199.. 21

7. Memoirg, p.xxxiv.

8. ‘Allibggglg Qictionary g;_A th , Vol. II, p.1951.

9. Hegoirg, p.xxxiii.

to become very skillful in the art of water color painting.
'In fact, young Sohoolcraft showed so much ability in this
line, that he attracted the attention of Jeremiah Van
Rensselaer,10 who, in addition to being the owner of the glass
works and Colonel Schoolcraft‘s employer, was also Lieutenant
Govéfior of New York. Although Van Rensselaer was more than
willing to stand the entire eXpense of placing Henry with a
master for training,11 the prospect of a life spent in paint-
ing did not appeal to the boy, who soon gave up his art in
favor of the more rigorous study of mineralogy and geology.1

At that time, 1808, mineralogy and geology were fields
of knowledge about which comparatively little was known in the
United States. Consequently, young Sohoolcraft, who quickly
grasped the fundamentals of these sciences made a name for him-
self as an authority on scientific research. At first his
interests were confined to the rocks and minerals of the
Catskills.13 Later, while living in Vermont, he was able to
extend his eXplorations considerably.

At the age of sixteen, Schooloraft organized a literary
society in the village of Hamilton for the purpose of studying
the learned sciences.14 It mattered little to Schoolcraft that

he was the youngest member of the group. With characteristic

 

10. Memoirs, p.xxxiv.
11. 1mg. , p.xuiv.
12. Lgig., p.xxxv.
13. Lbig., p.xxxv.
l4. LQLQ., p.xxxiv.

enthusiasm he devoted himself assiduously to the building up
of a personal library and a collection of mineral specimens.15
It was also during his sixteenth year that he wrote his first
articles for the local newspapers upon the various rock for-
mations of Albany County.16
It was only natural that Colonel Lawrence Sohoolcraft,
engaged in supervising the construction of a glass works in
western Hew York, should send for his eldest son.17 Conse-
quently, in the fall of 1809, Henry, at the age of seventeen,
left Hamilton, and after four and a half days of stage coach
travel, arrived in Vernon, New York.18 Since Vernon was only a
few miles distant from Oneida Castle, home of the ancient
Oneida tribe of the Iroquois, it was daily visited by bands
of Indians.19 Here, therefore, Henry had his first Opportunity
of observing the manners and customs of the Red Man at close
range. Little did he then dream that the Indians, both as a
race and as individuals, were to play such important parts
in his later life.
The next year, young Schooloraft, in the company of
Mr. Alexander Bryan Johnson20 of Utica, Journeyed through the

Genesee Country, a large area adjacent to Lakes Ontario and

 

is. mm, p.xxxv.
16. 1pm., p.xxxvi.
1?. 123.51.. 13.17.
18. Lhid.. p.17.
19. ,IQLQ., p.17
20. 12;Q., p.18.

Seneca. The purpose of this trip was to find a suitable
location for a new glass manufactory that was being subsidised
by the State legislature. The site chosen was on the shore
of Lake Seneca, not far from the town of Geneva. Many years
later Sohoolcraft wrote about this trip:

It is many years since I accompanied you21 to the

Genesee Country, which was, at that time, a favorite

theatre of enterprise, and called the "Garden of the

West.’I This step, eventually, 1ed.me to make deeper

and more adventurous inroads into the American wilder-

ness.23

As soon as work on the new plant was under way, School-
craft established his residence at Geneva for the purpose of
supervising the construction. Soon, however, the war of 1812,
its hostilities centering in the vicinity of Geneva, forced
the work on the new plant to be suspended. Since the advent
of the war had cut off completely the importation of British
products, a great demand for domestically manufactured goods
arose. The demand for window glass, indispensable in the
building operations necessary to the establishment of new
settlements, was especially great, making it imperative that
new glass manufacturing plants be built.23

As Colonel Lawrence Schoolcraft was the acknowledged
American authority on glass making, it was to him that the
merchants and capitalists of New York and New England turned
for aid. The Colonel, however, engrossed with the more e:-
citing details of mustering into service a regiment of vol-

51. Alexander B. fiohnson.

...; ,

 

88. figmgigg, dedicatory foreword.
23. .Ihid.. p.18.

unteers,B4 had little time for the prosaic demands of business.
and so delegated many of his industrial cares to his son Henry.
As a result, it was as his father's personal repre-
sentative that young Schoolcraft left Geneva25 during the
early days of the war and went to Vermont, where he at once
took up the task of directing the erection of several large
glass manufacturing plants. His new position was very im-
portant and carried with it the impressive salary of eighteen
hundred dollars per year.26
His Vermont residence, in addition to offering him new
minerals to study, presented an opportunity to attend Middle-
bury College, even though, according to his own statement,27
this attendance was 'ex academia.“ Under the tutelage of the
kiddlebury professors he studied chemistry, natural philoscphy,
and medicine, the latter of which was to prove valuable to
him during his explorations among the Indians. On his own
initiative Schooloraft picked up the rudiments of Hebrew,
German, and French?8 He also set up an experimental chemical

furnace with which he conducted many experiments regarding the

 

§4. We Po 11:110

25. Ibid., p.18.
28. LQLQ., p.18. This salary is more impressive when it is

noted that at that time the governor of Vermont received
only eight hundred dollars per year.

27- 12151.. 9-180
88. £211.. 13.11127.

29 The results of

fusion properties of various minerals.
these investigations were incorporated into his first pub-
lished book‘111giglgngowhich, although planned to be one of
a series was destined to have no companion pieces added to
it, either immediately or later.

Since his business duties obliged him to travel ex-
tensively31 throughout New England, Sohooloraft was daily
brought into contact with new scenes and new acquaintances.
From many of the latter he heard such favorable accounts of
the country west of the mountains that he began making plans

for a trip to the Mississippi valley.32

 

359. assets. p.11".
30. Utica (1317).

31. .lhid.. p.18.

33. Mo 0 9-180

CHAPTER III

WESTERN TRAVELS AND NARRATIVE JOURNALS

Early in the spring of 1818} in fact, so early that
snow still lay upon the ground and ice still choked the streams,
young Schooloraft went to the town of Clean, near the source
of the Allegheny river, from where he embarked upon a Journey
which was to carry him over six thousand miles of land and
water before he returned to New York.

Western migration, practically at a standstill during
the war of 1818? was again increasing and Schoolcraft found
Clean, normally little more than a village crowded with men,
women and children eagerly awaiting the break-up of the ice
so that they could start floating down the Allegheny upon great
clumsy-looking flat-boats.3 Needless to say, Schooloraft was
a passenger upon the first boat to attempt a descent of the
river.

Although the exact date of departure from Clean is not
given in either his A 112.! 91 11.1; has; £133.23. 9_f_ W or his
‘Eezggnal,flgmgiz§, it undoubtedly must have been very early in
the year because he reached Pittsburgh, three hundred miles
below Clean, Harch 28, a day doubly significant to School-

craft as it was his twenty-fifth birthday.4

 

1. mm. p.18.

2. £2ig., p.19.

3. Lg;g,, p.19. Schoolcraft calls them ”arks".
4. Me, 9.30-

After several days in looking about the thriving town
of Pittsburgh, Schoolcraft engaged passage upon another, but
larger flat—boat, one of a group making ready for the trip
down the Ohio. During this second leg of his Journey he made
the acquaintance of several prominent men5 who were quick to
see that Schoolcraft was no ordinary young man. Consequently,
many pleasant hours were spent in intelligent conversation on
board ship, and many instructive walks were taken along the
banks of the Ohio near the little towns at which the flotilla
of boats invariably tied up for the night.6 Five hundred
miles down the Ohio and Cincinnati was reached where School-
craft, in company with several of his friends, went ashore
for a stay of several weeks.7

When the possibilities of Cincinnati were exhausted,
Schoolcraft began looking about for transportation, other than
flatcboat, to Louisville, Kentucky. Happening to meet a man
from Baltimore named Willers who had the same idea and destina-
tion in mind, Schoolcraft Joined him in the purchase of a
light skiff.8 Putting their baggage into their boat, the two
men floated down the Ohio. As it was early May and warm, the

trip was pleasant, though hazardous.

 

5. One ofIthese friends, Senator 3. B. Thomas of Illinois, was
later instrumental in securing Schoolcraft's appointment as
Indian Agent. Egggigg, pp.23 and 8?.

5- 1.9.1.51.» p.31.
7- 1912-. p.22-
8. mg” p.25.

Louisville was reached in about four days. While there
Schoolcraft discovered some fossil formations and published
an account of them anonymously in the Louisville paper.9
Several weeks later he was very pleased when he found that a
number of the eastern papers had copied his article.

For the next state of his Journey, Schoolcraft took
passage upon a freight boat owned by Hessrs. Kemp and Keen.
Immediately upon leaving Louisville it was necessary for the
boat to pass through some rather rapid water. The owners of
the boat chose to walk along the bank during this passage,
but the intrepid Schoolcraft, wishing to miss nothing, re—
mained on board and enjoyed the experience.11

After several days of travel little different from days
similarly spent along the upper reaches of the same river, the
flat-boat stepped at Smithfield, a little town at the mouth of
the Cumberland river. Here. in order to shift the cargo from
the flat-boat to a keel-boat, a type better suited for ascend,
ing the Mississippi,18 they spent two days. While waiting
for the transfer of the cargo, Schoolcraft followed his usual
custom of tramping about the surrounding country. On one of
these walks he met and talked with soldiers who had Just re-
turned from campaigning with General Jackson against the Creek
and Seminole Indians.

5.’ hggcira, p.26.
10. Lhid.. p.26.
11. gpig,. p.26.

 

12. The Mississippi was only a day's distance from Smithfield.

13. Schoolcraft used these stories in his Alhalla, g£,the Lord
21W: alalsaziaefiaeeklaa. (1843).

The first day of July, Schoolcraft had his first

glimpse of the Mississippi river, of the ultimate source of
which he was to become the noted discoverer, fourteen years

later.14 The ascent of the Mississippi was a task with an
empty boat; with a boat heavily laden with cargo, it was a
‘task to be undertaken only by the strong of heart. In the
setting down,15 as he saw it, of this struggle of man against
the force of the great Hississippi, Schoolcraft writes some
‘of his most effective prose. This writing, although merely
.¥1£ the fomm of a journal, achieves a totality of effect that
'scme of his later efforts lack.

The struggle up the Mississippi was slow work with
poles and ropes.16 Five, six or seven miles were all the
weary boatmen could gain by a day's toil in the heat of the
July sun. Such slow progress, however, gave Schoolcraft ample
Opportunity to familiarise himself thoroughly with the tape-
graphy of the country passed through. '

On July 23, the boat reached the little town of
Herculaneum and in order to give the boatmen a much needed

rest,17 stcpped for several days. Impatient at the delay,

Schoolcraft decided to cover the remaining thirty miles to
St. Louis entirely on foot. When he was ready to set out

the losers. Kemp and Keen Joined him.
f2. July 13, 1832.
15. W Jougga; 9_f_ _a_ Ton; into Missouri. . ..(1821).

16. Schooloraft ggeng! gag agvgnturgg g; figs Csarg ngptaing

l7. gemgira, p.38.

 

17

After spending one night at a settler's cabin the
little party reached St. Louis without trouble or adventure.
Schoolcraft was delighted with the location of St. Louis and
predicted that it was bound to become one of the great in-
land cities cf the world.18 From St. Louis, Schoolcraft re-
turned by skiff to Herculaneum and from there travelled west-
ward tc Pctosi which was in the very heart of the lead.mining
country. At. Pctosi he found lodgings for a few months with
a former Kentuckian, Mr. W, Ficklin.19

‘In October, Schoolcraft decided to push his explorations
westward into the Ozark Hountains and set about making the
necessary preparations. At first, several of his friends de-
sired to go with him, but when the day of departure?”0 finally
arrived, only one, Pettibone, was able to go. '

After four months of adventure and hardship, the two
men returned to Pctosi late in February, much to the surprise
of its residents, who had heard from hunters that both School-

craft and Pettibone had been killed by the Indians.21

lumediat e-
ly upon his return to Pctosi, Schoolcraft began drawing up

a description of the resources of the mining country of Missouri.

 

18. mmwnmma W. 9.41.
19. ., p.46. From Ficklin, Schoolcraft obtained.valuable

crmation about woodcraft.

20. November 6, 1818.
31. 1214.. p.145.

18

The sudden change from a completely outdoor life to one
of indoors seriously affected Schoolcraft's health, with the
result that he contracted jaundicegzand was laid up for several
months. To hasten his recovery from the illness he went to
Herculaneum for treatment. While there he witnessed the depart~
ure of a United States expedition to the Yellowstone riverg:5
This suggested to him that the subject of mines was a problem
that should be given Federal aid. He said:

It occurred to me, after my return to Pctosi, that the

subject of the mines which I had been inquiring about,

so far as relates to their management as a part of the
public domain, was one that belonged prcperly to the

United States Government. I determined to visit Wash-

ington, and lay the subject before the President. As

soon as I hadnmade this determination, everything bowed
to this idea.“4

Convinced that he could accomplish nothing more in
Missouri, Schoolcraft took passage at St. Genevieve for New
Orleans};5 From there he travelled by steamer to New York, where
he arrived in time to be quarantined on Staten Island for two
weeks because of a threatened outbreak of yellow fever. It is
typical of Schoolcraft that he spent the two weeks in making
a thorough study of the island's geology.26

His reception in New York literary circles can best be

 

23. flaggirs, p.39.

23. 1mg. . p.40.

24.‘£2;3.,p.40.

25. £319., p.40. It required only two days to descend from St.

Genevieve to the junction of the Ohio, the distance that
had required twenty days to ascend the previous summer.

36- 1219,. p.43.

19

told in his own words:

I had now completed, by land and water, a circuit of

the Union, having travelled some 6000 miles, My arrival

was cpportune. No traveller of modern times had thrown

himself upon the success of his scientific observations,

and I was hailed, by the scientific public, as the first

one who had ever brought a collection of the mineral

productions of the hississippi Valley. My collection

was the means of introducing me to the men of science

of New York, and elsewhere.67

Under such favorable circumstances, Schoolcraft pro-
ceeded enthusiastically with the writing of his book,{§ Eigw
211.2h .22La mun 2111229211-28

As soon as it was published, November 25, 1819, School-
craft took o0pies of it and went to washington. He was favor-
ably received by Secretary of War Calhoun, Secretary of the
Treasury Crawford and also by President Monroe.29 Secretary
Calhoun informed Schoolcraft that General Cass was planning to
orplcre the sources of the Mississippi with an expedition and
needed the services of a naturalist conversant with mineralogy.
To Calhoun's proposal that he let the matter of the Missouri
mines rest temporarily in order to accompany Cass, Schoolcraft
was agreeable. He said:

He tendered me the place, and stated the compensation.

The latter was small, but the situation appeared to

be one which was not to be overlooked. I accepted it.

It seemed to be ahe bottom step in a ladder that I
ought to climb.3

 

WW2. p.43.

28. Wiley and Co., New York (1818).
29. $211., p.43.

30. 1219., p.44.

20

Although Schoolcraft was unaware of it at the time, his
acceptance of this position was a turning point in a career
that in the next few years was to concern itself less and less
with such inaminate things as rocks and minerals and more and

more with the human race, especially with the American Indian.

21

CHAPTER IV

EXPLORING WITH GENERAL CASS

To the twenty-six year old Schoolcraft the first few
weeks of 1820, although filled with gay days spent in Washingb
ton and New York,1 passed all too slowly. He was anxious to be
off to the wilds with General Case. The first of May, therefore,‘
found him at Niagara Falls, ready to take passage on the steamer2
for Detroit, which place he reached seven days later. He and a

companion, Captain D. 3. Douglass of West Point Academy,3

were
cordially received by General Cass.

Since complete arrangements for the start of the ex-
pedition had not been made, Schoolcraft had time to become
accustomed to the life of a military post and to take care of
the voluminous, but unsolicited correspondence that the publish-
of his book had inaugurated.4

On May 24, the expedition started up the Detroit river
with the northernmost points of the Northwest territorysas their
destination. The party travelled in birch bark canoes of Indian

manufacture that were manned by Chippewa Indians and Canadian

voyageurs. A small detachment of soldiers, under the command of

 

l. Hgmgigg, p.45.

2. 191g,,p.45. It was the "Walk-in-the—water", the first steam-
er on the Great Lakes.

3. 1g;g., p.45. Douglass was tOpographer of the expedition.
4. 1212. . 29.46-48.

5. Narrative 9; an Ergedition fig the Sources 9; the Migsiggippi,
p.48.

Lieutenant maokay? accompanied them as an escort. Upon enter-

ing Lake Huron, the company of canoes followed closely the
western shore line. After ascending the St. Mary’s river the
southern shore of Lake Superior was followed to Fond du Lac,
from where the party went up the St. Louis river to the high-
lands of the divide between the waterosheds of the Great Lakes
and the Mississippi.7 By portaging they entered the Mississippi
system and eventually traced it to a point much further up-
stream than Lieutenant Pike had done several years before.8 As
the water was now unfavorable for further progress the orpedi-
tion retraced their path to the falls of the St. Anthony. They
then went east to the shores of Green Bay, at which place they
divided; some going directly to Michilimackinack; and the others,
including Schoolcraft, tracing the entire shore-line of Lake
Michigan?

When Detroit was finally reached some four thousand
miles of waterways had been successfully traversed and mapped.

The account of this trip that Schoolcraft published in 182110

 

6. Narrative 9;,gg,Exp§ditigg tg_thg Source 9; the giggiggipp;
31321. P- 48-

7- 1213-. 9.110.
8. h m , p.50.
9- Mon 13.50.

10. Its complete title is: A Narrative Journal Travels through

the American Lakes 19 _:g spurcgs g_‘1_g,Mississipp; River,
performed _§,§,memberpg_ Governor 0822'23529d1t193.1329.

83

served to establish more thoroughly his reputation as an
accurate and scientific traveller and observer. A later writer
makes this statement:
For many years, beginning with 1817, Schoolcraft stirred
up a seal for natural history from one end of the land
to the other. In short, no exploration had before been
made which so completely revealed the features and phys-
ical geography of so large a portion of the public do-
main. A new interest in mineralogy and geology was
awakened by this expedition, and Mr. Schoolcraft's
narrative was hurried into press under the pressure of
public clamor for its results.11
Before leaving Detroit for New York Schoolcraft was a
guest for several weeks at the home of General Case.12 In New
York he spent the winter working on his narrative and receiv-
ing the homage of literary people who seemed determined to
lionize Schoolcraft for having seen so many of his country‘s
farthest-frontiers}3
In the spring came a letter from General Cass request-

14 As

ing Schoolcraft's company on another trip of exploration.
the project had been discussed many times during the earlier
Journey and as he had been expecting the invitation, Schoolcraft
quickly accepted it.

This second trip with Case began on July 4,1821. And
although it did not traverse suchaan unsettled country as the

earlier one had done, it nevertheless proved very interesting.

 

ll. Egpgla; §ciencg monthly, Vol. XXXVII, pp.ll3-121.

12. According to A. C. hclaughlin, Lewis Cass (New York, 1891)
General Cass had the finest library in the west.

13. 2292112. p.56.

14. d., p.64. The expedition was planned to trace the courses
0 the Wabash and Miami rivers and to treat with the Indian
tribes of the Chicago district.

24

While approaching Chicago by the means of the Des
Plaines river, Schoolcraft found the fossil tree that had been
reported as being imbedded in the bottom of that stream.15
When the time arrived for the signing of the treaty with the
Potowattomie Indians, Schoolcraft was too ill with the fever
to sign with the restlsfie was also forced to remain in Chicago
for several months after the remainder of the expedition had
returned to Detroit.

It was late fall when Schoolcraft reached New York.
During his pro-longed absence a heated controversy17had been
raging in the daily papers over the merits of his previously
published works. If the public had clamored for Sohoolcraft's
narrative of the 1820 expedition,18 popular enthusiasm must
have cooled quickly, for the journal of the 1821 trip was not
published until 1825. Three more years passed before it was
noticed in the Eggth Amezicag Rgvigw.19 When it is recalled
that the Narrative Journal published in 1821 was reviewed in
the North American Review as early as July, 1822, it appears
evident that by 1825 interest in travel narratives was already

decreasing.

The 1822 review begins with references to De Soto,

 

15. Described in American Journal of Science, Vol. IV, (18227
p.285.

16- 1292112. 9.69.
17. Ibid., pp69—71.
18. Ibid., p.53. See also note 11 to this chapter.

19. fig;1h,ggg;1ggg Revigw, Vol. XVII, pp.224—50.

25

Hennepin, Baron la Hontan, and Charlevoix,20 who had covered
the same general route many years earlier than Schoolcraft. In
speaking of Schoolcraft‘s first glimpse of Lake Superior, the
writer of the review 21 says that it would be an injustice to
describe it, the grandest event of the whole expedition, in
any language, but Schoolcraftb own. And then quotes:

The morning was clear and pleasant, with a gentle
breeze blowing up the river, which while it filled
our sails and relieved our men at the cars, produced
an exhilirating effect upon our spirits, by its re-
freshing coolness, and we approached the lake with a
feeling of impatient delight. The most enchanting
views were presented in every direction and we fully
realized the Justice of the remark made by Carver,
that the entrance to Lake Superior affords one of
the most pleasing prospects in the world. This one
trance was now in full view, presenting a scene of
beauty and magnificence which is rarely surpassed
even amid the rugged scenes of the north. The lake
spread like a sea before us; toward the north we
could discern the highlands of Canada, while on the

Superior bay side, the mountain chain extending from
the head of the river St. Mary, westward, towered

majestically into the air and presented a fine con- 2
treat with the boundless expanse of water at its base.
23 -
In the description that he gives a little further along
in this same boos, of the pictured rocks along Superior's shore,

Schoolcraft writes some of his best prose.

Surprising groups of overhanging precipices, towering
walls. caverns, waterfalls, and prostrate ruins, which

 

20. gggfihmggggiggg_fieview, Vol. XVII, pp225—228.
21. J. G. Cogswell.

22. Naggativg Jggrnal‘gg Travels lg 1820, p.236.
23. This description is often used in vacation booklets.

are here mingled in the most wonderful disorder, and
burst upon the view in ever varying and pleasing
succession.24

Enough has been given to show that Schoolcraft was
sensible to the beauties of nature and could describe them in
a pleasing, if not powerful, manner. According to Cogswell,
I'The narrative beyond Lake Superior becomes totally barren
of interest, but its dulness is no fault of the author, but
is wholly chargeable to the country where he travels, which
was very aptly called by la Hontan, the 'fag end of the world'.§5

chswsll also found much in the narrative that die-
pleased him. For instance: ‘

If it were reasonable to complain of one who has done
so much as Mr. Schoolcraft, because he has not done
everything, we would say that his descriptions are ,
too loose and indefinite; we are not sure that he has
seen one new animal or plant, or mineral, as he has
never marked those, which he supposes to be new, by
any characters which decide them to be so. As to
language his work is highly defective, and every page
he writes is marked by a sin against the King's Eng-
lish. We complain not of such words as 'snags' and
‘bluffs' - which we consider legitimate, because they
are technical; but we consider that'prOgressing' and
'progress9 as they are used by him in addition to
'sundcwn‘, 'sohute', 'eventuats', do not belong to our
language. We are independent Americans it is true gut
we have no right to corrupt the English language.2

From these statements it can be deduced that Mr. Schoolcraft
must have depended too much upon observation of usage to suit

a purist like Mr. Cogswell.

 

24. Nagrativg.Jgurnal g; Travels Lg 1820, p.237.

25. North American Rgvigw , Vol. XVII, p.242.
26, Ibid., 247-248.

27

The reviewer27 who criticises Schoolcraft's Igazglg

1.11 19.2 W 1111.21 commences by making the following

remarks about his earlier work:

Mr. Sohooloraft's V12" 9; the Lead Mines,g§ Missouri

has been for some years before the public, and it
excited eXpectations, which subsequent events have
fully Justified. Some of the peculiar Opinions ad-
vanced in the work require confirmation, and the
arrangement of the facts is injudicious, but it
evincee a precision and accuracy in its details, and
a power of observation which will render it valuable
as a permanent book of reference.88

And then,after,remarking how Schoolcraft, like numerous other

Americans, had made his way to distinction without any ad-

ventitious aid, the article continues,'There has been a vie~

ible improvement in his successive works, and that for the

most part their diction is pure and the arrangement happy.'39

The concluding statement is not so complimentary:

There is, at times,,an evident search after words, not
always sanctioned by the best usage. Mr. Schoolcraft
should recollect, that he will eXpress himself mgst
forcibly, when he eXpresses himself most easily. 0

Another interesting article in the fig;1h,§m§;1g§g

Rgzigw of July, 1825?1 points out the fact that Major Long's

“T

27.

28.
29.
30.
31.

Legis Case,,§g;th,Amegiggg HQVLEW. Vol.XiT (April, nge),
p. 580 ‘

.Ihig.. p.358.
man p.358.
ma. p.358.
WWW. Voi.xv1. p.186.

88

later expedition32 to the north was able to find some of

Schoolcraft's earlier observations incorrect. The following

illustrates the tone of this article:

One important service rendered by major Long and his
party is deserving of particular note. They have pur-
sued their inquiries and examinations in such a manner,
as to show that some authors, who have enjoyed an un-
merited degree of confidence and reputation, are un—
worthy of such respect. This is especially applicable
to La.Hontan, and to his humble, but ungrateful ccpyist
and garbler, Carver.33 .

Mr. Schoolcraft, whose reputation as a traveller is well
known, has also been corrected in some particulars by
the researches of the present expedition. With this we
are the more satisifed as the standing and merited
respectability of Hr. Schoolcraft are well suited to'
confer permanency on any accidentally erroneous state-
ments made by him. The narrative of Schoolcraft'e con-
tains an undeserved censure of Pike, who is reported
to have estimated the Falls of St. Anthony as being
sixteen and one half feet high; Schoolcraft magnifies
this to forty feet; Major Long, by measuring, deter—
minedazhat the height is between fifteen and sixteen
eet.

From the few examples cited it can be seen that School~

oraft's writings were subjected to many attacks during the late

1820's by the learned critics and periodicals of the Atlantic

 

32f Schoolcraft had expected to lead this expedition. In his

83.

34.-

, p.177, he says, "I have for some time relinguished

the expectation of being selected to conduct the exploring
party to the region of the St. Peter's. A letter of this
date(hay 29, 1883) terminates the uncertainty.'An exploring
party has been ordered to make the tour that was intended
for you. Through the necessity of placing a military officer
at the head, Major Long has been chosen' thus falls another
cherished hope, that of leading an expedition to the North.”

North American Review, Vol.XVI, p.185.
Ibid., p.186.

seaboard literary centers.

Schoolcraft, however, was far removed from the points
of strife, having gone, after spending the winter of 1821-32
in comparative idleness, to take up his permanent residence

at the very outpost of civilization, Sault Ste. Earie.35

35. Maire. p.88.

30

CHAPTER V

SAULT STE. &ARIE AND THE INDIAN

On the eighth day of may, 1822, the United States Senate
confirmed President chroe's nomination of Henry Rowe School—
craft fcr the new position of Indian Agent for the frontier
post of Sault. Ste. Marie.1 In speaking of his reaction to

this successful attempt to gain a position in the government
service, Schoolcraft said:

I had now attained a fixed position; not such as I

desired in the outset, and had striven for, but one

that offered an interesting class of duties, in the
performance of which there was a wide field for hon-
est exertion, and, if it was embraced, also of his“
torical inquiry and research. The search for natural
history might certainly be transferred to that point,
where the opportunity for discovery was the greatest.

So once again the month of June found Schoolcraft hurry‘-
across the state of New York and then up Lake Erie in order to
get to Detroit in time to go north with an expedition. The only
difference was that this time he faced the far from inviting
prospect of remaining there throughout the long cold winter.
When the steamer left Detroit on July 2, it contained, in addi-
tion to Schoolcraft and several other private citizens, a
battalion of Infantry under the command of Colonel Brady, whose
objective was the establishing of a military post and fort at
Sault Ste. Marie.3

_

I. Egmgizg, p.87. The closing of the agency at Vincennee made
it possible to create the new one at the Sault.

3. flbid., p.83!
30 MOI p.880

31

The steamer landed its passengers at Sault Ste. Marie
on the morning of July 6. Because of the presence of the mili-
tary, the landing proceedings were carried on with a good deal
of pomp and ceremony in order to impress the Indian, French, aid
Canadian inhabitants with the power and dignity of the United
States of America.4 The first thing done was the hoisting of
the American flag.,Then the troops were paraded around an
empty field to the east of Mr. Johnston's house.5 Mr. Johnston,
the most influential resident of the little community, invited
Schoolcraft and Colonel Brady to become his guests until they
had arranged for permanent quarters?

While on the steamer, Schoolcraft, in looking over
some papers given to him by General Cass, came upon a printed
list of queries regarding the Indians that the General was
endeavoring to work out the answers. They seemed so interesting
to Schoolcraft that he decided to undertake the task himself
while in his new surroundings at the Sault.7

 

4. sessile. p.92.

5. Ibid., p93. “we found in Mr. Johnston a man of singular
energy and independence of character, from one of the most
refined circles of Ireland; who had pushed here about 1793;
he engaged in the fur trade; married the daughter of the
ruling Ogima or Forest King of the Chippewas; raised a
large family, four sons and four daughters; had a library
of the best English works; lived in the best residence in
the town; and had the manners and conversation of a man
who could be classed only as a perfect gentleman with the
sentiments of a man of honor, and the liberality of a lord."

6. Ibid. , p.94.
7. Ibid., p.89.

32

The second day at Sault Ste. Marie, Schoolcraft made a
speech to the assembled Indians of the neighborhood. He was
followed by Colonel Brady who announced that the troops would
not disturb the ancient burial ground of the Indians in the
building of the new fort? The speeches of both men were trans-
lated to the Indians by means of interpreters. Schoolcraft
says:

This announcement was received with great satisfaction,

as denoted by a heavy response of approbation on the

part of the Indians; and the council closed to the
apparent mutual satisfaction of all. I angered well,
from all I heard respecting it, as coming from the

Indians, and was resolved to follow it up zealously

by cultivating the best understanding with this power-

full and hitherto hostile tribe, namely the Chippewas,

or, as they call themselves, Odpjib—wa. To this end,

as well as for my amusement, I commenced a vocabulary,

and resolved to study their language, manners, customs,

and so forth.9

with that resclve,8choolcraft commenced a program of
studying the Indians that was to result in his becoming the
fore-most ethnologist of his day. When a week later he took up
permanent residence in the household of Mr. flohnston, the learn-
ing of the language suddenly changed from a task to a pleasure,
; because his teachers became the beautiful and welleducated grand
daughters of Wabojeeg, celebrated war chief of the Chippewas.‘
Their mother's name was 0-sha~wus-oo-da~ wa- qua,and she also

0
taught Schoolcraft many things about the Indians? Schoolcraft

says:

 

‘BoEEEQLlaa 9.97.

'90 Me ' p09?-
10. Ibid., p.100.

33

It is refreshing to find a person who, in reference to
this language, knows the difference between the con~
Jugation of a verb and the declension of a noun; it
has been intolerable for me to converse with Indian
traders and interpreters here who know none of these}11

As the days went by and Schoolcraft, in the discharge
of his official duties, had the Opportunity to see and inter-
' view the Indiana that came and went daily, he became convin-
ced that it was of paramount importance that he thoroughly
familiarise himself with their tongue. Under date of July 28,
he wrote:

But as I find in my intercourse, the growing diffi-
culties of verbal communication with the Indians on
tepics at all out of the ordinary routine of business,
I begin to greatly wonder that the numerous mis-
apprehensions of the actual character, manners, and
customs of the Indians, which are found in books, are
not more exaggerated than they are. As to literal
exactitude in such communications, my inquiries have
already convinced me that there must be other and hi er
standards than a hep-hazard ”I-aupne-kun-o-taupgade, or
trade interpreter, before the thing can be attempted.
Fortunately, I have, in my friend, Mr. Johnston and

the several interesting members of his family, the
means of looking deeper into the powers and structures
of the language, andram pressing these advantages,
amidst the pauses of business, with all my ardor and
assiduity. The study of the language, and the formation
of a vocabulary and grammar have almost imperceptibly
become an absorbing object. The plan interests me so
much, that I actually regret the time that is lost from
it, in the ordinary visits of ignity and ceremony,
which are, however, necessary. 4

with an increasing knowledge of the Indian language, School-
craft was soon able to talk with the Indians without an inter-

pfeter, and consequently began to hear many legends and stories

 

11. gm, p.100.
12. mg” pp.1oe-7.

34

of Indian folk-lore in a form that was unspoiled by clumsy
attempts to render into English ideas and eXpressions that were
characteristically Indian in nature and origin.

Schoolcraft kept a Journal while in the north and set
down in it everything of any importance that he heard or saw.
Many of these items that he recorded were later used as mater-
ials for his books. An excellent example of this is the treat-
ment that he gives to the subject of fihitefish in his 3min,
The observations were made at the Sault:

The white fish is taken only in the swift water at the
foot of the last leap or descent.

The fishing canoe is of small size. It is steered by a
man in the stern. The fisherman takes his stand in the
bows with a scoop net. This not has a long slender
handle, ten feet or more in length.

The flesh of the fish is perfectly white and firm with
very few bones. It is boiled by the Indians in pure
water, the kettle hung high above a small blaze and
thus cooked it is eaten with the liquid for a gravy.

Itiis also broiled by the inhabitants on a gridiron
after cutting it open on the back, and brought to the
table slightly browned. It is most delicious when
immediately taken from the fire and connoisseurs will
tell you, by its taste at the table, whether it is
immediately from the water or has lain any time before
cooking.13

Schoolcraft was very fond of white fish for dinner as
is evidenced by this passage:

It is sometimes made into small ovate masses, dipped
into batter, and fried in butter, and in this shape,

it is called petite pate. It is also chowdered or
baked in a pie. It is the great resource of the Indians
and the French, and of the poor generally at the falls,

 

l3: MemoirsI p.123.

who eat it with potatoes, which are abundantly 14
raised here. It is also a standing dish with all.

Having thus described the palatability of the white fish as
food and also the economic importance of it to the Indian,
Schoolcraft next gives the Indian name of the fish:

The Chippewas who are ready to give every object in
creation, whose existence they cannot account for, an
allegorical origin, call the white fish, 'attiknmaig'
compounded of 'attik', a reindeer, and gumee' mean—
ing water,u usvident acknowledgement of its import-
ance in the means of subsistence. Who can say, after
this, that the Chippewas have not some imaginationl' 5

Even this remark about the Indian name does not completely
exhaust Schoolcraft's stock of information about this subject.
The Indians had about the white fish, as about every animal,

a legend, and Schoolcraft sets it down Just as heard it.

The legend about the origin of the white fish is founds
ed on the observation of a minute trait in its habits.
This fish, when Opened, is found to have in its

stomach very small white particles which look like roe
or particles of brain, but are,perhaps, microsOOpic
shells. They say this fish itself sprang from the
brain of a female, whose skull fell into these rapids,
and was dashed out against the rocks. A tale of
domestic infidelity is woven with this, and the dencue-
ment is made to turn on the premonition of a venerable
crane, the leading Totem of the tribe, who, having to
carry the ghost of a female across the falls on his
back, threw her into the boiling and foamip§.flcod to
accomplish the poetic Justice of the tale.

This ends the information about white fish under the date of
October 4.

 

14. mm. p.125?
15. 5219,, p.13

16. Ibid., p.124.

This item from his Journal will well illustrate his
early studiousness and sincerity of purpose!

Acting as librarian for the garrison during the
season, I am privileged to fill up many of the leisure
hours of my mornings and evenings by reading. The
difficulty appears to be, to read with such reference
to system as to render it profitable.17

It was late in the fall of 1822 that Schoolcraft re-
ceived the following letter from a friend:

I am extremely anxious that Mr. Johnston and his
family should furnish full and detailed answers to my
queries, more particularly upon all subjects connected
with the language, and, if I may so speak, the polite
literature of the Chippewas. There is no quarter from
which I can expect such full information upon these
tepios as from this. I must beg you to aid me in the
pursuit. Urge them during the long winter evenings

to the task. The time cannot be more profitably or
pleasantly spent, and, as I am told you are somewhat
of an aboriginal scholar, you can assist them with
your advice and Judgment. A perfect analysis of the
language is a great desideratum. I pray you, in th!
spring, to let me have the fruits of the exertions.

With the prospect of such study and investigation in the off-
ing, Schoolcraft dreaded less the advent of the long winter.
The entries he made in his Journal during the rapidly shorten-
ing days of November and December give a vivid picture of how
winter settled down on the little trading post of Sault Ste.
Marie.

.lgg. We have snow, cold and chilly winds. On
looking to the north, there are huge piles of clouds
hanging over Lake Superior. We may say, with Burns,
"The wintry wind is gathering fast.
£91. 291b, We are now shut out from the world. The

season of navigation has closed, the last vessel has
departed...for some weeks past, everything with the

 

'T7. Memoirs, p.l30.

18. in name is given, but it probably was from Case who was
making a study along these lines.

power of motion or locomotion has been exerting it-
self to quit the region....Hature has also become
imperceptibly sour tempered, and shows her teeth in
ice and snows. We have witnessed the long-drawn
flight of swans, brant, and cranes, towards the south.
Singing birds have long since gone. Ducks, all but

a very few have also silently disappeared...the last
mail has been sent...0ur population has been thinned
off by the departure of every temporary dweller, and
lingering trader, and belated visitor, till no one is
left, but the doomed and fated number whose duty is here.

‘223..l§1. We have now plunged into the depths of a
boreal winter. The blustering of tempests, the whistling
of winds, and the careering of snow drifts form the

daily tapics of remark.

m. m. A meteor, or fire-ball, passed through the
village at twilight this evening. The weather, which
has been intensely cold for the last three days, in-
dicates a change this evening.

,Laih. Snow covers everything. We are shut out
from the civilized world, and thrown entirely on our
own resources. I doubt, if we were in Siberia, or
Iamschatka, if we could be so completely isolated.

n . The River St. Mary's frose over during the

.222
nighto this day. The stream had been closed below,
for about a week previous.

.2:3,.§§1§, Ice, snow, winds, a high range of the ther-

mometer, or a driving tempest, are the almost ever

present tepios of remark.

.Qgg_. gain. The days are still very short, the sun

having but Just passed the winter solstice. We do not

dine till four, hr. Johnston, with whom I take my meals,

observing this custom, and it is dark within the coming

hour.19

Although New Year's day was spent in feasting and re-
oeiving visitors at his quarters, including numerous Indians
who came looking for presents, Schoolcraft began the year 1823
determined to devote every possible minute to his study of the

Indian language and customs. In fact, according to his Journal,

 

19. Memoirs, p.126-36.

there was a period during which this study almost amounted to

an obsession.

ggg . 1913. I have employed the last three days, in-
cluding this, very diligently on my Indian vocab-
ulary and inquiries, having read but little. Too ex-
clusive a devotion to this obJect is, however, an
error. I have almost grudged the time I devoted to
eating and sleeping. And I should certainly bew
willing that my visitors should know what I thought
of the interruptions created by their visits. One of
my visitors, a couple of days since, made me waste a
whole morning in talking of trifling subJects. 30

with practically every minute of the day filled with study,
reading and work, Schoolcraft found that the winter passed
quickly enough. Hardly before his work was well under way it
was spring and maple sugar time again. To both the Indian and
White residents of the North country the making of maple sugar
was of such importance that during the period in which the sap
was flowing the villages were almost deserted. Everybody pack-
ed up and went by dog team or horse-drawn sleigh to the maple
sugar camps. Not only was this a season of hard work, but it
was also a season of social activity. Under date of larch 26,
Schoolcraft wrote:

I Joined a party visiting one of the camps. We had

several carioles in company, and went down the river

about eight or nine miles to Hrs. Johnston's camp.

The party consisted of several officers and ladies from

the fort, Captain Thompson and lady, Lieutenant Bicker

and lady and sister, the Miss Johnston331...we pursued

the river on the ice the greater part of the way, and

then proceeded inland about a mile. We found a garge
temporary building, surrounded with piles of res

split wood for keeping a fire under the kettles, and

 

'50. Messiah. p. 143-43. _

21. Schoolcraft married Miss Jane Johnston, Johnston's eldest
daughter in October, 1823.

large or hides arranged in such a manner as to serve
as vats for collecting the sap...The custom on these
occasions is to make up a picnic, in which each one
contributes something in the way of cold viands or re-
freshments....The principal amusement consisted of
pulling candy, and eating the sugar in every form.
Having done this, and received the hospitalities of
our hostess, we tackled up our teams, and pursued our
way back to the fort, having narrowly escaped breaking
through the river at one or two points.2

On Bay 8, 1823, Schoolcraft made this entry in his
Journal:

It is a year since I received from the President a
commission as agent for these tribes; and it is now
more probable than it was then that my residence here
may assume a character of permanency. I do not, how-
ever, cease to hcpe that Providence, has a more eligible
situation in reserve for me.33

24 and

His marriage to Johnston's eldest daughter, Jane,
the resulting favorable connections with the Indian tribes, were
links of a chain of events, however, that seemed forged for no
other purpose than to keep him in the North country and ulti-
mately to make him the great authority on Indians and Indian
manners. .

The winter of 1823-24 passed much as did the previous
one. Schoolcraft really welcomed it as it gave his release
from many of his official duties of the summer months and left
him free to continue his reading and study.35 An entry made
3377mm. p.135. I
23. Ibid., p.176.

24. Jane was half Indian; her Indian name, the English meaning
of which was “the sound which the stars make rushing through
the sky' was 'O-bah-bahon-wah-ge-she-go-qua'.

25. A list of what Schoolcraft read during this time included:

the works of Dr. Johnson, Hennipin's travels, and.books by '
Schlegel, Silliman, Thiebault, Harmon, hackensie and Carver.

 

 

on May 30, 1824, gives clearly the germ of what was later to

become his MW!» seems 2:. WE av h 23'

Having found, in the circle of the Chippewa wigwams,

a species of oral fictitious lore, I sent some spec-
imens of it to friends in the lower country, where

the subJect excited interest. That the Indians should
possess this mental trait of indulging in lodge stories,
impressed me as a novel characteristic, which nothin

I had ever heard of the race had prepared me for .

had always heard the Indian spoken of as a revengsful
bloodthirsty man, who was steeled to endurance and
delighted in deeds of cruelty. To find him a man
capable of feelings and affections, with a heart open
to the wants, and responsive to the ties of social life,
was amazing. But the surprise reached its acme, when I
found him whiling away a part of the tedium of his long
winter evenings in relating tales and legends for the
amusement of the lodge circle.37

Further evidence that Schoolcraft considered the study of the
Indian's unwritten tales and legends important in the under-
standing of the Red Man's place in the field of American culture
is contained in the report of an address that Schoolcraft gave
before the Historical Society of Michigan.

Two centuries have but little abated the curiosity

with which we regard a people, whose origin is involved
in mystery, and whose prominent traits, of features and
character, are so widely different from our own. They
are identified with the history of our settlement, with
the expansion of our moral and political institutions.
American scenery owes to them, one of its most perma-
nent moral associations. Their mythology has peopled
our lakes and forests with an invisible creation of
super human existences. And their fate and fortune has
interwoven throughout our history, many of the most
attractivg scenes of peril and achievement, which.makes
its pages.8

A little later in the same speech he crystallized into

26. 1h§,uytg g; Hiawatha was a revised edition of the Algig
W.

27. Maire. p.196.

28. A giggourgg Qelivered .9. he Amiversary __f_ the Historical
seam aikisaman. me... lain. 13.5.

a few words the justification of his and his associate'e
study of the Indians:

The accululation of facts and materials on all, and
each of the points which serve to illustrate their
history and character, is an object of enlightened
research. And it is a species of research which
commends itself particularly to our attention, sit-
uated as we are, in the vicinity of numerous, and ,
some of them, populous tribes, who preserve the
traditions, customs and institutions of their ancestors.
Other societies are favorably located to preserve the
materials of our national history. *It is our prc-
vinoe to glean upon the frontiers.'

His mere residence upon the frontier, however, was
not what made Schoolcraft'e position so ideally favorable to
the study of the Indians. huch importance must be given to the
fact that he married Jane Johnston. He wrote the following
during a canoe trip taken with a band of Indians to the Tacqui-
menon Falls:
Being connected by marriage with an educated and
intelligent lady, who is descended, by her mother's
side, from the former ruler of the Chippewa nation,
I was received on this trip, with a degree of con-
fidence and cordiality by the Indians, which I had not
expected. I threw myself, naked handed into their
midst, and was received with a noble-spirit of hi
regard and hospitality. The incidents of this tr p
revealed to me some of the most interesting scenes of
Indian domestic life.30
when in the fall of 1824, Schoolcraft received leave

of absence and went back to New York, he took with him, not

 

59. Whaluere Ease? 1529. 12.9.
30. £29231. p.195.

43

only an Indian wife and an infant son, but also facts about
the Indiana that no other white man had previously taken.cut
of the wilderness. A few samples of Indian legends that School-
craft inoluded in his Irgvglg L11 the W1 Kill-.217. which
was printed during 1885 were well received by the public.

The early months of 1825 were spentagreeably in
Washington and New York with old and new friends. All were

lland

amazed at the charm and education of Mrs. Schoolcraft,3
Schoolcraft received many compliments upon his Indian bride.
As his position in the field of letters was now well establish-
ed he was beseeched with requests for contributions by many

32 When he returned to Michigan in May, he

learned journals.
did so well satisfied with his Indian undertakings.

The westward trip was hurried because of the arrival
of a letter from General Cass urging him to arrive at Sault
Ste. Marie in time to Join an expedition that was scheduled to
depart early in June for Prairie du Chien, at which point there
was to assemble a great delegation of Indians for the purpose
of negotiating a new treaty with the United States.

With this journey to Prairie du Chien, Schoolcraft

entered upon another chapter of his interesting career.

 

' 51. She was called the INorthern Pocahontas”. Meggi;g,fp.208.

33. The more important Journale_to which Schoolcraft contri-
buted includes Ihe Ngrth American Review, The Democrat

Revigg, Southern Literary Messen e , Knickerbgckgr Magg-
a

gig; American gourna; g; figigggg, as well as several
important foreign periodicals. . ‘

CHAPTER VI

1
THE ORACLE OF PA—WA-TING

Twenty-one days after leaving Mackinack the expedition
of 1825 reached Prairie du Chien on the Mississippi River.
The Indians were already there and Schoolcraft thus describes
the gathering:

We found a very large number of the various tribes
assembled. Not only the village, but the entire banks
of the river for miles above and below the town, and
the island in the river, was covered with their tents.
The Dakotahs, with their high pointed buffalo skin
tents, above the town, and their decorations and in-
plements of flags. feathers, skins and personal

braveries', presented the scene of a Bedouin encamp-
ment. Some of the chiefs had the skins of skunks tied
to their heels, to symbolize that they never ran, as
that animal is noted for its slow and self-possessed
movements.

A kind of war flag, made of eagle's and vulture's large
feathers presented quite a martial air. War clubs and
lenses presented almost every imaginable device of -
paint; but by far the most elaborate thing was their
pipes of red stone, curiously carved, and having flat
wooden handles of some four feet in length, ornamented
with the scalps cf the red headed woodpecker.a

The detail with which Schoolcr"ft describes the dress and
manners of the various tribes, many of which he was seeing for
the first time, indicates clearly how avidly he must have
feasted his eyes upon their dress and how eagerly he must have

endeavored to acquire the meaning or interpretation of every

 

l. The 5hippewa name for the villagebcf Sault Ste. Marie.
3. Madeira. p.214.

curious symbol or totem of the different tribes. In addition
to the Dakotahs, there were present, Yanktone, Winnebagoes,

Chippewas, Henomonies, Potawattomies, Ottowas, Iroquois,

Iowas, Sacs, Foxes, and Sioux.3

After about a month the treaty was signed. The return
trip was unfortunate in that some miserable weather was en-
countered that seriously delayed their progress. Schoolcraft
was especially anxious to arrive home quickly, because this
was the first time that he had been separated for any length of
time from his wife. His notes indicate his anxiety:

While making these notes I have been compelled to hold
my book, pencil and umbrella, the latter being almost
indispensable to keep off the almost trcpical fervor '
of the sun's rays. As the umbrella and book must be
held in one hand, you may Judge that I have managed
with some difficulty; and this will account to you for
many uncouth letters and much disjointed orthography.4

A few days laterfmade this entry:

Why should I relate to you our dull progress through
fields of rice, through intricate channels, and admidet
myriads of ducks and wild water fowl. This day has
been hot, beyond any experience on the Journey.

I sank back in my canoe, in a state of apathy and lass-
itude, partly from the heat, and partly from indis-
position. My thoughts were employed upon home. A
thousand phantoms passed through my head. I tried to
imagine how you were employed at this moment, whether
busy or sick in your own room. It would require a
volume to trace my wandering thoughts. Let it suffice
that another day is nearly gone, and it has lessened
the distance which separated us, about seventy miles.5

His anxiety increased daily as wind and weather connived
to hold him back. Premonitions as to the well-being of his
wife and child urged him to press on rapidly. The straits of

 

3. maPP.BI4-Zl6. A w
4- m-e 9-221-
5. Ibid., p.223.

Mackinack became so rough that Schoolcraft's party was forced
to take shelter at Outard Point, a desolate place at which the
next three days were spent in wind and rain.

The entries that Schoolcraft made in his diary during
those three days convey a striking picture of their despairing
situation.

.'§. Here have I been encamped since noon with

a head wind, a dense damp atmosphere, and the lake in

a foam. I expected the wind would fall with the sun,

but, alas, it blows stronger than ever. It has pleased

the All-wise Being to give me an adverse wind, and I

must submit to it.

§gp§. Z. Daybreak brought with it no abatement of the

storm, but presented to my view a wide vista of white

foaming surge as far as the eye could reach. It is a

real equinoxical storm. My ears are stunned with the

incessabt roaring of the water and the loud murmuring
of the wind among the foliage; thick murky clouds
obscure the sky, and a chill dams air compells me to
sit in my tent with my cloak on.
The plight of the little party was so great that Schoolcraft
felt compelled to commismerate his companions with some verse.
The following lines are typical:

If to the lake I cast my longing'view,

The curling waves their noisy way purmue;

That noise reminds me of my prison-strand,

Those waves I most admire, buticannot stand.

If to the shore I cast my longing view,

There broken rocks and sand ccmmingled lie,

Mixed with the wrecks of shells and weeds and wood,

Crushed by the storm and driven by the flood.

 

 

go— We PO. 23535.

The poem closes with:

He who can feel one lonely ray of bliss,

In such a thought-appalling spot as this,

His mind in fogs and mists must ever roll,

Without a heart, and torpid all his soul.7

The next day the wind abated and the flotilla of
canoes was able to leave Outard Point for the mouth of the
St. hary's river. There Schoolcraft heard news that assured
him of his family's good health, and so, as he puts it:

I landed here, fatigued, wet, cold, but, from the

effects of a cheerful fire, good news from home,

and bright anticipations for to-morrcw, I feel quite

invigorated. I'Tired nature's sweet restorer' must
complete what tea and whitefish have so successfully

begun.8
The next day Schoolcraft reached his home and was Joyously
welcomed by his family and friends.9

A tremendous pile of correspondence demanded his ‘
immediate attention. Many letters contained favorable remarks
about his recently published booklg Others were from close
friends urging him to continue his studies of the Indians.
Hr. Conant of New York wrote, “I hope you will not fail to
prosecute your Indian inquiries this wintemmjgetting out of
them all the stories and all the Indian you can.“i3

During the winter of 1826, Schoolcraft, in an attempt

to foster a literary movement among the residents of Sault

Ste. Marie, started a little manuscript newspaper, which,

 

70 We pp.233" “'4.

8. lam” p.235.

9.;b1d., p.236.

10 mmsnLILeEiLiaaiahilallsL (1825).
.gemoilg, p.239.

since the one cepy was sent from house to house, was called

11;; W 1212.891. The promotion of this project, to-
gether with his other studies helped Schoolcraft to pass

many a pleasant hour.

With the arrival of spring preparations had to be
made for an expedition to Fond du Lac. It was July before
this expedition, much more pretentious than the one of the
previous year, got under way. Schoolcraft describes their
embarking:

The military element of the party consisted of a com-
pany of the 2nd Infantry, with its commissariat and
medical department, numbering, all told, sixty-two
men. It was placed under the command of Capt. Board-
man. They embarked in three twelve—cared barges, and
fommed the advance. The provisions, presents of goods,
and subsistence supplies of the commissioner's table,
occupied four boats, and went next. I proceeded in

a canoe "allege“ with ten men, with every appendage

to render the trip convenient and agreeable. The
whole expedition, with flags and music, was spread out
over miles, and formed an impressive and imposing
spectacle to the natives, who saw their I'closed late"
as Superior was called in 1820, yield before the
Anglo-Saxon power. The weather was fine, the scenery
enchanting, and the incidents such as might fill a
volume.13

Upon the successful completion of the negotations with

 

13. gegoirg, p.844T The account of this eXpedition was
written upfi byT . L. McKenney, Sketghgg 21, T03; 19 fig;
and

awe 1.1.12.1. $1.13 9.1
Mgg‘gagm Baltimore 1837 In a review of this book in
the ggztg,§mg§19agflflgzigg,(October, 1827) the statement
is made that he adds little to the facts stated by

Mr. Schoolcraft; who, in his turn, COpied them with due
credit from Carver. During the trip McKenney was a boat

mate of Schoolcraft (M moir p.243) so it is not sur-
prising that he should 5e acquainted with Mr. Schoolcraft's

work and method.

the Indians at Fond nu Lac, the expedition returned to Sault
Ste. Marie where Schoolcraft resumed his regular duties again.'
He made this note under date of October 2, 1826:
I amused myself this fall by keeping notes of the
official visits of my Indian neighbors. They may
denote the kind of daily wants against which this
people struggle.13
He then lists the daily visits of the Indians and the stories
they had to tell. These items are typical of the many shorter

entries:

‘222..§. Oshawano and his youngest son. Said he had
three daughters who had to cut wood every day, and had
no axe of their own; that he was in want of an ice-
chisel; fever in family. Gave him twenty rations.
Thanked me and bade me good-day.

Deg..fi. Caubamossa, nephew, wife and child. Twelve

rations.

_p_e_c_. %. Namewunagunboway. Twelve rations.

Deg. Merchand. Twenty rations, five persons.
£93. a Meesho.

gee..11. Naughitchigome called at house. Sent off
with a reprimand never to call on Sunday.

Most of the items are considerably longer. Many of them con-
tain from two to three hundred words and are pathetic records
of the miserably poor Indians.

As an alternate pastime to the getting out of the
‘Litggagzh191gggr, Schoolcraft composed, during the year 1826

O

J

 

llg. hemoigg, p.247.

14. During 1823 Schoolcraft adepted the rule of refusing‘tc
see the Indians on the Sabbath or when they were under
the influence of liquor. See Memoirg, p.146, footnote.

an essay on Indian character which he entitled the gagugg
pgxgggg, but made no effort to publish.15
On January 13, 1827, Schoolcraft's little son, not

16 This tragic blow so affect-

yet three, died of pneumonia.
ed Schoolcraft and his wife that, not being able to stand
the emptiness of their home, they moved in with the Johnstons}7

Ire. Schoolcraft expressed her grief in a heartarendp
bug series of triolets in the Chippewa tongue, a translation
of which Schoolcraft gives in his Hemoirs: These stanzas are
typical!

Who was it nestled on my breast,

And on my cheek sweet kisses prest,

And in whose smile I felt so blest?
Sweet Willy,

Where is that voice attuned to love,

That bid me say “my darling dove?”

But, oh! that soul has flown above,
Sweet Willy.

But soon my spirit will be free,

And I my lovely son shall see,

For God, I know did this decree!
My Willy.18

 

15. In 1851 Schoolcraft submitted a poem by this same name to
s. 0. Bryant for criticism. See ISchoolcraft, Bryant,

and Poetic Fame.“ gmegican Literatugg Vol. V, pp. 170-73.
16. gegoirn, p.360.
1?. Ibid., p.263.
18. 1219.. pp.261-268.

This sudden death of his son was one of a series
of happenings that ultimately caused Schoolraft to seek1the
comfort of religion. He said:
Idolatry such as cure for a child, was fit to be
rebuked, and the severity of the blow led me to take
a retrospect of life, such as it is too common to
defer, but, doubtless, wise to entertain. Why provi-
dence should have a controversy with us for placing
our affections too deeply on a sublunary object, is
less easy at all times to reconcile to our limited
perceptions than it is to recognize in holy writ the
existence of the great moral fact.
Such, at least, has been the current of my thoughts
since the 13th of the present month, and they were
deeply felt when I took my Bible, the first I ever
owned or had bought with my own money, and requested

that it might be placed as the basis of the little
{allow that supgorted the head of the lifeless child

his coffin.

The summer of 1827 marked the signing of another great
treaty with the Northwestern Indians. This was accomplished
through the efforts of an expedition, of which Schoolcraft was
a leading figure, to Butte des Morts. 2° Immediately upon the
signing, Schoolcraft hurriedly returned to the Sault to be with
his wife who was expecting the arrival of a child.21

The remainder of the summer, Schoolcraft devoted to
supervising the construction of a new residence and agency.22
When in the fall they were completed, Schoolcraft left the home

of the Johnetcns and took up permanent residence in the new

 

19. hassles. p.263.
30. The treaty is known as the Treaty of Butte des Marts.
21. The second child was a girl.

22. Ibid., p.274.

51

Elmwood. In their new home the Schoolcrafts were very hepPY. The
birth of a daughter assuaged greatly the pangs occasioned by the
loss of the little boy.

The fact that the Indians were peaceful and apparently
satisfied with the conditions that had been imposed upon them
by the Treaty of Butte des Morts led Schoolcraft to write in
his diary:

I had now attained that position of repose and quiet
which were so congenial to my mind. The influence I
exercised; the respect I enjoyed, both as an officer
and as a scientific and literary man; every circum-
stance, in fact, that can add to the enjoyment of‘a
man of moderate desires, seeking to run no political
race, was calculated to insure my happiness.83
Late in 1827 Schoolcraft was doubly honored, first, by
his election to the Legislative Council of the Territory of

Michigan;24 second, by the invitation of the editor of ths.§g;1h

M1959 M121 asking him to contribute to its pages facts and
reflections on Indians and Indian character.25

-The north American Review was by far the most influp
ential and important periodical of the time26 and Schoolcraft
was more than pleased that it should solicit him for articles.
One of his early contributions appeared.under the title of—

“Civilization and Conversion of the Indiadt27 It was a satirical

23- Esasiis. p.275.
24, 121g,, p.276.
35.,121Q., p.277.

26. In the foreword to the Ngrth Amegican Revigw Indeg (1878)
Oliver W. Holmes said, With this index the Nogth gmericap

Review will constitute a library in itself by which the

wisest and most learned may profit but will be especially
.a..interesting to all American students, as the best correct

record of the growth of native thought and scholarship.“
27. Memoirs. p.277.

52

criticism of the methods employed in the converting of the
Indians to Christianity during the seventeenth and eighteenth
centuries§83choolcraft particularly found fault with the three
objectives striven for by the Spanish priestsggand followed with
the remark that the policy pursued by later day Protestant
missionaries was not much better.

After asking the question as to what steps could be
taken to avoid the impending extinction of the country's abo-
riginal population, Schoolcraft said:

Where are the children of the 80,000 souls who inhabited

New England territory alone, on the landing of the Pil-

grime? A few still survive upon small and solitary

reservations of their ancient patrimony, like those rays
of the sun which linger behind, after the setting orb
has sunk beneath the horizon. The physical supremacy of
the wasted tribes is past away, no more to be renewed.

Whether it be possible to fulfil the wishes of philan-

thropy for the miserable remnant, by shedding moral

and spiritual illumination upon their minds and hearts,

is a point of more uncertainty.3
With the above thought well in mind, Schoolcraft next quoted
Brainerd31 as saying that the main difficulties encountered in
the attempted converting of Indians to the Christian faith
were: I '

The influence of bad example set the natives by the
white population in their immediate neighborhood.

 

28. WWW. Vol. xxvn’i, p.353. (April, lei—7’9 .
29. M” p.357.
30. mg” pp.364-65.

31. Edward a Life 21 Braigerd, published by Scottish Society
for the prcpagating of Christian knowledge, London,(1818).

The strong attachment of the natives to the customs,
traditions, and fabulous notions of their fathers.

The erratic and dispersed state of the Indians which
induced habits exceedingly unfavorable to periods of
active preaching on the part of missionaries.38
With his facts well marshalled to emphasize his points, Schocl~
craft closed his article by asking this question of the 521;;
gaggigagflfigziggig learned readers:

Is it just that persons should be licensed to preach
the gospel to Indians, who should not be deemed suit-
able or promising candidates to preach among the
whites?3

In the light of existing practices of that day it can
be imagined that such an embarrassing question aroused considp
erable antagonism among the zealous contributors to foreign
and domestic mission funds of the various American religious
organizations.

In similar fashion Schoolcraft continued to carry the
torch for the Indian as long as he lived. The same sentiment
that he expressed so admirably in 1829 in the w W
gazigg‘was again set down thirty years later by Schoolcraft
in the preface to his monumental Higtgn 91 Lb; m m
g; 12.9. 31815.19 gm. The words are different, more polished,
perhaps, but the thought is the same:

It was the dark age of Indian history. The Indian was

not the only one who lacked moral powers; the uncouth

frontiersman, as well as the mere buyer of beaver and
muskrat were not overstocked with it. Had the aborigines

always been taught that, between nation and nation, as
between man and man, duplicity was wrong; finesse and

 

32. mwm. Vol. mm. mass-66.
33. has. p.367.

54

and trickery, contemptible; deception, dishonorable;
and treachery, abominable; there might have been better
results. With him, war was a passion; he loved to see
blood flow. But when he warred for others, he did so
for nothing: a dupe at the outset, he was doubly a

dupe at the close.34

In connection with this first mention of Schoolcraft‘s

great am 91 m 191L521 Tribes which was carried to com-

pletion at the direction and expense of the United States
government, it seems apprOpriate to mention that as early as
1826,35 the possibility of such a piece of research was in the
mind of Schoolcraft as he went about his various duties at
Sault Ste. maria. In speaking of a letter received at that time
from Colonel McKenney, then Commissioner of Indian Affairs,

Schoolcraft said:
38

I had mentioned to him, while here the fact that the
time and labor necessary to collect information on
Indian tapics of a literary character, imposed a species
of research worthy of departmental patronage; that I

was quite willing to contribute in this way, and to
devote my leisure moments to further researches on the
aboriginal history and language, if the government

would apprOpriate means to this end.37

And although government subsidy did not materialize at that early
date, Schoolcraft continued his investigations and study, well
pleased with the labor, notwithstanding. As he said in November,
182?:

 

51mm gamma MTPhnadelpbia. 1353:2575. "
Vol. VI, part 1, p.198.

35. Colonel McKenney had been in Schoolcraft's boat on the trip
to Fond du Lac in 1826.

36. itemize. p.254.
37..Ihl§.. p.355.

55

My study of the Indian language and history has not only
enlarged my own sources of intellectual gratification,
but it has, without my seeking it, procured me a number
of highly intellectual philosOphic correspondents, whose
letters Operate as an aliment to further exertion. The
Editor of the Nggth American Review inviting me to write
for its pages, says: "Your knowledge and experience will
enable you to say much concerning the western country,
and its aboriginal inhabitants, which will be interest-
ing to the community of readers.”8

The first entry in his journal for 1828 shows conclus-

ively that Schoolcraft desired to give up his traveling to re-

mote spots in favor of remaining at home for the purpose of
furthering his studies of the Indian customs:

During ten years, omitting 1823, I had now performed,
each year, a journey or expedition of more or less
peril and adventure in the great American wilderness,
wilderness, west of the Alleghanies. I had now attained
a point, srdently sought for many years, where I was
likely to be permitted to ggt quietly at home and

leave traveling to others. ,

Within a month, however, he received the first of several

invitations which urged him to accept the directing of the scien-

tific corps of a proposed United States expedition to the South "“'

Seas.4°u7ln accordance with his resolve to remain at Sault Ste.

Marie, however, Schoolcraft felt it imperative to refuse all

invitations, even when expressed in such glowing terms as Kr.

Reynolds wrote under date of May 14;

It is probable that an expedition to the South Seas
will sail from the City of New York in September next.
I wish, and so do several members of the national cab-
inst, that you would join it, and be the head of the
scientific corps. Your salary shall be almost anything

 

33.

11min. p.275

39. m" p.378.
40- Mos 9-2790

On June

56

you ask, and your relation to the general government
shall not be prejudiced by a temporary absence. The
Expedition will be absent about eighteen months or

two years. Will you not feel some ambition in being in
conneCtion with the first American expedition of
diecovery?41

10, Hr. Reynolds wrote:
Mr. Southazd, Secretary of the Navy, has expressed deep

regret that you will not be able to go on the ex-
pedition.43

And since Schoolcraft still remained adamant, Mr. Reynolds wrote

again on June 22:

I had a conversation today with the Secretary of the
Navy in relation to your joining the expedition. He
informs me that the President is anxious that you
should do so; and that in case you did, an Assistant
Agent might be appointed to your duties as United
States 2 ent, and thus reserve your office until your
return.

Even the eXpressed desire of President Adams was not sufficient

to cause Schoolcraft to accept the position. The following ex-

tract from his journal indicates Schoolcraft's stand with re-

gard the matter:

nothing, certainly, could exceed this spirit of liber-
ality and kind appreciation. No reasons for altering
my prior decisions appeared, however, weighty enough
to change them.44

Needed it be added that when the expedition finally

sailed under the command of Captain Charles Wilkes, United States

Navy, Schoolcraft was not on board any of the ships? Had be gone

the Indians would have perhaps become secondary in his interests.

 

41..£emairs. p.281.
42..Ihid.. p.284.
43.,jhig., p.284.
44. Ibid., p.284.

57

As a member of the Legislative Council of the Territory
of Hichigan, Schoolcraft was required to go to Detroit4§n 1828
to be sworn in by the governor. 46 Upon receiving appointments
to the committee on expenditures, and as a member of the judic-
iary, Schoolcraft directed his attention to the incorporation of
a Historical Society and to the preparation of a system of Town-

47 H.

ship names based on the aboriginal 1anguage.. also took an

active part in preposing legislation to make it a penal offence

to sell or give Indians ardent spirits in any form.48

During his long winters of study and reflection at Sault
Ste. Marie, Schoolcraft had ample time to formulate theories
about the literatureof the frontier regions. Then he began

writing for the M W 5.9.2131: it was natural that he
should take advantage of the opportunity to put his views before

the reading public. This is what he said in an early article:

Few travellers would be found to explore distant regions,
when life was the forfeit of every intrusion into Indian
territories, and when whole settlements were frequently
crowded into temporary wooden forts, to protect them-
selves from the tomahawk and the scalping-knife. It is
doubtless attributable to these circumstances, super-
added to the low state of printing, that so few trav- 49
ellers appear in the records of our colonial literature.

The hardy explorer contented himself with verbal narra-

45. fietroit was the seat of Michigan's government at that time.

46. Emile. p.284.
47. Mu p.285.

48. 1p;g., p.285.

49. Earth humanism. Vol IXVII.pp.89-114. (July. 1828).

The article is entitled F§_,Qggggvegtg gs g Sourceg g3

giggissippi, et de‘;_.R v r Sanglantg, by J. C. Beltrami
Nbuvelle Orleans, 1824. Beltrami was a member of Colonel

Long's expedition of 1823.

58

tione, which were repeated from neighborhood to neigh-
borhood. The first descriptions of those regions were
gleaned from the accounts of hunters. That intrepid
race of pioneers were free from the mania which has been
somewhat too prevalent in our day. They kept no Jour-
nals, and wrote no books. Travellers there were, indeed,
in the infant days of our settlement, but their remarks
were almost wholly confined to the portions of terr-
itcry situated along the Atlantic border. Their works
were published and intended for the information of
readers in EurOpe, and appear to have had but little
circulation here, and are now rarely to be met with.

The work of Smith alone, is sufficient to make us re-
gret that our ancestors did not more frequently record
the interesting events of those times.50

In like vein, Schoolcraft mentions favorably the work of Thomas

Jefferson,51 Bartram,

52 and Carver.53 He next stresses the im-

portance of reading with discriminating care the works of such

missionary travellers as D'Ablon, Lescarbot, and Charlevoix. In

regard to these last he says:

The burden of these works is the conversion of the Indiana.
This was the first and the last obJect of the govern-

ment which sanctioned their labors;54 of the religious -
orders who employed them; and of the missionaries them-
selves. To acknowledge a failure in their mission, was

to prepare the way for their loss of prestige; and hence ,
we may conclude, is one cause of the exaggerated accounts
which were published of their success, in bringing within
the pale of the Catholic church whole villages, and

even tribes.54

With the addition of several more pages on these early explorers,

Schoolcraft then shows how, in 1800, during the presidency of

Jefferson, a movement began that was to lead to the explorations

 

50. flgzjhhémggigag_flggiew, Vol. XXVII, p.89.

51.
62.
53.
54.

£932.. pp.92-93.
3239,. p.93.
92.4.4... p.92.
Dale... p. 95.

59

of Lewis and Clark, Pike, H.M. Breckenridge, and others, in-
cluding those to the Upper Lakes region made byLong and Case.55
The rest of the article is devoted to a rather lengthy
treatment of the Chippewa language.
The autumn months of 1828 passed rather quietly for

8choolcraft.56

Early in l829 news arrived that it was possible
that Governor Cass would leave Michigan to take a place in the
Cabinet that the newly elected President Andrew Jackson was
about to form. In May, Schoolcraft Journeyed to Detroit for
the purpose of attending sessions of the Territorial Legis-
lature and the Historical Society of Hichigan,57the latter of
which he was scheduled to address at its annual meeting.

The year 1830 was also very quiet for Schoolcraft and
his friends. Another session of the Legislature was attended
during the summer and a trip to Niagara Falls was taken when
the meetings were over. schoolcraft was accompanied on this
trip to the Falls by his wife and it was taken purely as an
excursion.

' The Indian affairs became so quiet that Schoolcraft
remained in Detroit during the winter of 1830—31. While there
he delivered several lectures before the Historical Society that
were later printed in pamphlet form.

With the spring of 1831, however, the Indians of the

 

 

55. mm when w. m. xiV"I"I'.""p"."'9"'7’.

56. Schoolcraft's father-in-law, Mr. Johnston, died in October.
In the same month Schoolcraft hired as interpreter the
notorious John Tanner, who had been a captive of the Indians
for many years.

57. hasairs. p.534.

60

Northwest became restless. This was partly due to the in-
fluence of their neighbors to the south, the Sauce, who,
under the leadership of their great chief, Blackhawk, were
about to begin hostilities against the United States.
Consequently, Schoolcraft, acting on instructions received
from the War department, began to organize an expedition
for the purpose of going into the Northwest to ascertain
the temper and numbers of the various tribes. Since small-
pox had long been the scourge of these tribes, Schoolcraft
took with him the necessary supplies for vaccinating as
many Indians as possible.58
The expedition left Point Iroquois, the entrance to
Lake Superior, on June 27. The party included Schoolcraft,
Dr. Douglass Houghton, Mr. H. Woolsey, Lieutenant Robert
E. Clary, and a small detachment of the Second U. S. Infantry
for protection against any sudden uprising of the Indians.59
The trip was taken in a leisurely manner, and many
side excursions were made to examine interesting geological
features of the country. Six days were spent coasting about
the Keweena Peninsula. From its furthermost point they could
faintly see the distant peaks of Isle Royal, that great is-
land which is, according to a Chippewa legend, the home of

the Indian deities, or manitous.60

 

58. Many times an epidemic of smallpox would sweep through
an entire village, leaving hardly a single person alive.

59- theatre. 9-350.
60- map-353-

61

For the most part, all the Indians were found to be

friendly. A few of the observations that Schoolcraft made in

his Journal show rather pointedly the manner with which the

white traders of the region were accustomed to treat the

Indians:

Another

We found several Chippewa Indians encamped. They
brought a trout, the large lake trout, and were as
usual, very friendly. We saw a fresh beaver‘e skin
stretched on the drying hoop, at the Buffalo's son's
lodge. But the women had secreted themselves and
children in the woods, with the dried skins, suppo-
sing that a trader's canoe had landed, as we had
landed in the night. This may give some idea of the
demands of trade that are usually made, and the
caution that is observed by them when a trader
lands.51

entry gives a picture of how Schoolcraft's party

was received at a certain village:

At two o'clock the wind somewhat abated, so as to
allow us to take the lake, and we reached and en-
tered the Ontanogon River at half past four o'clock.
Mr. Johnston with the store canoe, and Lieut. Clary
with his boat, came in successively with colors
flying. Kon-te-ka, the chief, and his band saluted
us with several rounds of musketry from the Opposite
shore. Afterwards they crossed to our camp, and the
usual exchange of ceremonies and civilitiss took
place. In a speech from the chief he complained
much of hunger, and presented his band as objects
of charitable notice.63

Upon completing the survey of the tribes along the

southern shore of Lake Superior, the expedition travelled

up the St. Croix River and entered the streams tributary to

the Mississippi system. Schoolcraft made the following entry

 

61. Memgizfi. P.5g7. Frequently the traders bartered banned
whiskey for skins and furs.

62- M- e P-3590

62

in his Journal on August 18

We reached the Yellow River, and found the chiefs
Kabamappa, Bwoinace, and their bands awaiting my
arrival. I pitched my tent and erected my flag on
an enimence called by the Chippewas ”Pe-li—co-gun-
au-gun” or The Hip-Bone.“

Several days were spent at the Yellow River in making speeches
to the Indians and in listening to their complaints. When
everything was satisfactorily settled Schoolcraft wrote in
his diary:

Having concluded the business with the Indians, I

distributed presents of provisions, ammunition, and

tobacco. I purchased a canoe of small draft from the

Indian named Shcga, and immediately-embarked on my

return up the St. Croix. That night we lodged in

our camp of the Slat. The next morning we were in

motion by five o'clock, and reached the grand forks

by nine. We entered and began the ascent of the

Namakagun.64

It was September 4 before Schoolcraft and the expedic
tion concluded their travels and landed at St. Mary's.65
Upon his arrival at home, Schoolcraft found a letter waiting
for him which told that General Case had been transferred to
the War office at Washington, and that the new governor of
uionigan was to be Mr. George B. Porter?6

‘Late in the fall of 1831, a young'man by the name of
Jeremiah Porter arrived in Sault Ste. Marie. He was a grad-
.uate of Princeton and Andover and was reputed to be a lineal

descendant of the great Jonathan Edwards.67 He was sent to

 

35. heaaira. p.371.
64- ‘Moe 13-373-
65. lb d , p.396.

66. Ibid., p.396.
67. Ibid., p.398.

the Sault by the Home Missionary Society of Boston for the
purpose of establishing a church. Schoolcraft generously
took the younggminister into his home and did everything to
make him comfortable. The following paragraph is Schoolcraft‘s
description of how religion came to the Sault:

The lordly 'waseail' of the fur-trader, the long-

ccntinued dance of the gay French “habitant', the

roll of the billiard ball, the shuffle of the card,

and the frequent potations of wine ”when it is red

in the cup“ will now, at least, no longer retain

their places in the customs of this spot on the

frontier without the hogs of having their immoral

tendencies pointed out. 3

The winter months of 1832, therefore, saw carefree
Sault Ste. Marie in a new role, that of a zealous, church-
conscious community. A glance at the entries that Schoolcraft
made in his Journal of the next few years indicates how his
attitude toward religion changed from one of honest question-
ing to one of complete acceptance. >It is significant that he,
unlike so many of the shallowbminded, did not Join the church
immediately upon its arrival in Sault Ste. Marie. When he
finally professed his faith it was only after long and care-
ful weighing of the facts and principles.

It was natural that a person of Schoolcraft's in-
tellect, interested as he was in the phenomena of things
such as rocks and minerals as well as plants and animals,

should be vitally concerned with the Christian conception

of the creation of earth and man. Long winters spent in the

 

68. Memoirs: pffiSS.

solitude and quiet of the North gave Schoolcraft ample time

to ponder over the merits of the Christian faith. These

following remarks are typical of many similar:

M

69.
70.
71.
72.

73,

Dgcgmhgg 3Q: 69 Continue my biblical readings, with
a view of noticing the coincidences of passages re-
ferred to by clergyman who have visited me. Quite
satisfied that ”day" in Gen. 1, 5, means, in that
place, a natural day of twenty-four hours, the con-
text cannot be read without it.

Qagegbe; é}: No thawing today. There has been
quite a blow on the lake. Began some sketches of
biblical geology.

Jaguagy 5:70 Sunday. Cold. Hr. Barber71 preached
on the character and trials of Noah. The old New
England devines loved to preach from texts in the
Old Testament.

: I received a visit from Mr. Barber.
Conversation on the state of religious knowledge.
Do geology and the natural sciences afford external
evidences of the truth of God‘s work?

January as: The temperature still rises. Cave
each of my children a new copy of the Scriptures.
If these are important, as is acknowledged, they
cannot too early know them.73

Januagyuglj This being Mrs. Schoolcraft's
birthday, I presented her a Bible.
,figbgpa;1_1: I wrote to my sister Catharine, in

the prospect of her dying of consumption; directing
her mind to the great moral remedy in the inter-
cession of Christ. 73

 

1833. ‘7

1834.

Pastor at Michilimackinack where Schoolcraft now lived.
This statement indicates that the scientifically trained

Schoolcraft was not yet ready to accept entirely the
dogmas cf the established church.

acacia. PP-457-53-

65

ngggagy 18: Engaged in pursuing Mr. Ferry's
lectures, delivered at a prior time, on the char-
acter and differences between the Protestant and
Hamish churches. ‘

Egbzgggz_§§;7 Finished the perusal of Mr. Ferry's
manuscripts. 4

But although Schoolcraft read and thought a great

deal about the Church of Christ, he never failed to believe

that the religion of the Indians was not without its re—

deeming virtues. For example:

several

Margh 18: Sunday. 'Anni-me-au-gee-ehich-ud' as the
Indians term it and a far more apprOpriate term it
is than the unmeaning Saxon phrase of Sunday.75

This vigorous observation was made by Schoolcraft

years later:76

A soldier, in garrison at Fort Mackinack, writes to
me, wishing, on the expiration of his term of en-
listment, to become "a soldier of Christ“ and to
enter the missionary field. That is a good thought,
Sergeant Humphrey Snow! Better to fight against
human sins than to shoot down sinnere.77

In February 1832, Schoolcraft took the initial steps

to form the 'Algic Society“ of friends and others who were

interested in the cause of the reclamation of the Indian.

Later, Schoolcraft was chosen as the Society's first preei~

dent, an honor that he certainly deserved.78 During this

 

74. 11mm, pp.466-:67::
75. m, p.469.

76. 1836.

7?. ma. p.530.
78.,IQLQ., p.403.

66

same month a letter from Washington advised Schoolcraft
that steps should be taken to consolidate the agencies of
Sault Ste. Marie and hichilimackinack. The letter also
stated that Schoolcraft should assume the direction of the
combined agencies with the privilege of living at either
the Sault or Mackinack, as he saw fit.79

In May, instructions arrived from Washington to
the effect that Schoolcraft should drOp all other business
in order to organize and command an expedition to the upper
liesissippi river country for the purpose of further pacify-

ing the Indians, who were again becoming restless.8°-

 

5‘9. Nam.
80. 191.51.. p.405.

67

CHAPTER VII

TO THE SOURCE OF THE MISSISSIPPI

It was June 7, 1832, that Schoolcraft ordered the
boats and canoes of his expedition into the water of Lake
Superior and set out on his last and greatest trip of ex-
ploration to the headwaters of the Mississippi. Before re—
turning he was to undergo many hardships and adventures,
but he was also to experience the satisfaction of being the
first white man to see the ultimate source of the "Father
of Waters.”

The party included, as usual, a detachment of’sil-
itary. It was under the command of Lieutenant James Allen of
the Fifth U.S. Infantry} The notice that Schoolcraft took of
the expedition's departure, as set down in his Journal, in-
cluded.the following:

It was not until this day (June 7) that the 01p0~

diticn was ready to embark at the head of the por-

tage at St. Mary's. The military and their supplies
occupied a large Mackinack boat; my heavy stores
filled another. I travelled in a "canoe-elege” as
being better adapted to speed and the oelerity of
lending. Each carried the national flag. we slept
the first night at Point Iroquois.3

Fifteen days later the upper limits of Lake Superior
were reached and the party passed into the St. Louis river

for the purpose of ascending to the Sandy Lake summit, which

 

1. Mains. p.406.
8. Ibid.. p.409.

marks the dividing:line of the Mississippi and Lake Super-
ior water sheds. 0n the ninth of July the expedition reached
the island in Cass Lake that marked the limit of the know
exploration of the Hissiseippi.3 Schoolcraft describes their
next action as follows:

This being the point at which geographical discovery
rests, I decided to camp the men, deposit my heavy
baggage, and fit out a light party in hunting canoes
,to trace the stream to its source. The Indians
supplied me with five canoes of two fathoms each, re-
quiring but two men to manage each, which would allow
one canoe to each of the five gpntlemen4 of my party.
I took three Indians and seven white men as the

Joint crew, making, with sitters, fifteen persons.

We carried a flag, mess-kit, tent, and other necess-
ary apparatus. We left the island early the next
morning and reached the influx of the Mississippi
into the Lake at an early hour.5

After several days of hard going the little party finally
arrived within a day's Journey of the lake which the Indians
claimed to be the real source of the Hissiseippi. To get to
it more quickly, Schoolcraft and several other members of
the party left the river and cut across the country on foot.6
According to the Indian guides this act saved them many hours.
The hike through the forest and up the rugged hill sides was
s trying feat of strength and endurance, but finally, as
Schoolcraft notes:

The glittering water appeared, at a distance below,

as Viewed from the summit of one of these eminences.

It was declared by our Indian guide to be Itasca
Lake, the source of the main, or South fork of the

§T~N a ve of th2,Expedition t he ur s th M -
figfifi? ALMQIJM

 

4. Schoolcraft, Houghton, Johnston, Boutwell, and Lieut. Allen.
5. Memoirs, p.410.

8. The canoes were carried on their shoulders.

69

hississippi. I passed him, as we descended a long
winding sIOpe, and was the first man to reach its
banks. A little grassy opening served as the ter~
minal of our trail, and proved that the Indians
had been in the practice of crossing this eminence
in their hunts. As one after another of our party
came, we exulted in the accomplishment of our
search. A fire was quickly kindled, and the canoes
gummed, preparatory to embarkation.7

The rest of that day, June 13, was devoted to a hasty ex-
ploration of the shores of the newly discovered lake.8 Upon
the insistence of the entire group, a pretty little island
in the lake was named “Schoolcraft's Island.“ The following

ceremony was observed:

I caused some trees to be felled, pitched my tent,
and raised the American flag on a high staff, the
Indians firing a salute as it rose. This flag, an
evidence of the government having extended its
Jurisdiction to this quarter, I left flying, on
quitting the island.9

Toward nightfall of the same day the travellers began the
descent of the Mississippi. Schoolcraft described their
departure thus:

The outlet lies north of the island, Before reach-
ing it, we had lost sight of the flagstaff, owing
to the curvature of the shore. Unexpectedly the
outlet proved quite a brisk brook, with a mean
width of ten feet, and one foot depth. The water is
as clear as crustal, and we found ourselves gliding
along, over a sandy and pebbly bottom, strewed with
scattered shells, at a brisk rate.10

7. Naggative 9;, m Expeditigg 3,9; ghg ggugcg 9; {fig Mississ-
Me P0247-

8. The name ”Itasca” is a compound from the Latin 'veritas
caput”, the true head. This expression was uttered by Mr.
Boutwell upon first seeing the lake. See Migngsgta gig?

MW. V01. VI. p.121.
9. W. p.414.
10. Earrative g£_the Expeditign, p.247.

70

In the light of future developments, a minor in-
cident of the next day's travel deserves mention:
Lieut. Allen had halted to make some observations,
when his men incautiously failed for a moment to
keep his canoe direct in the current, water dashed
over the gunwales, and swept all to the bottom. He
retrieved his fowling piece, but irretrievably lost
his canoe-compass. Fortunately I had a fine small
land-compass, which General Macomb had presented
to the late Mr. Johnston of St. Mary's, many years
before, and thus I measurably repaired his 1083.11
From a rapid investigation of the Indian situation
at such focal points as Leech Lake and St. Peters, School-
craft observed that the Northwestern tribes were fairly
well satisfied with the restrictions imposed upon them by
the United States. The Sioux Indians at St. Peters em-
phatically disclaimed having any connection with the Sauks
and Foxes who, under the leadership of Blackhawk, were caus-
ing so much trouble in the neighborhood of Prairie du Chien.12
Leaving St. Peters on July 26, Schoolcraft re-
turned to the Lake Superior region by means of the rivers
St. Croix and Burntwood. After twenty days of hard travel,
the water in the upper reaches of the those streams being
very low, he arrived once more at Sault Ste. Marie.13
With his discovery and mapping of the true source of
the Mississippi, Schoolcraft reached the peak of his fame as
an explorer. He was soon-to give up the hardships of the field

and trail for those of the desk and pen. Not only was he the

 

ll. figmgigs, p.4f7. This friendly gesture of Schoolcraft's
does not seem to merit the treatment which Lieut. Allen

gave in return by severely censuring Schoolcraft in his
official report to the War department.

12. Ibid., p.420.
13. Ibid., p.421.

71

first white person to reach the ultimate source of the
Mississippi, but he was also the first person to traverse

h 14

its entire lengt . The results of his discovery School-

craft gave to the public in a three-hundred—page book,

published by Harper and Brothers, in 1834.15

A number of
years later16 it was revised and combined with the narra-
tives of his earlier explorations in the same regions under
Case.17
In view of what has already been stated, it will

undoubtedly appear contradictory to say that Schoolcraft was
wrong in assuming that Lake Itasca was the final source of
the Mississippi. Several years later, the explorer Nicollet
visited Lake Itasca, and although confirming Schoolcraft's
findings, also extended them somewhat. In a ngggt,gg_1h§

W Riva,“ issued by the Government Printing Office,

 

14. Taking into consideration his trip from St. Louis to the
Gulf of Mexico, in 1819.

15. The full title is Narrative nggg Explgzatigg thgu h the
WW.EMMK.MWC 3 MM sf
this riser» assassins.an.eanlaains..rinntazaash.hae.§i.
mmwsm inlay. magmas
9111 aw

16. 1855, published by Lippincott, Philadelphia.

17. lama“? afan___n._i_ia.edt nmmwethem-
“ 3gp; kg 1820, resumed and completed b the discovery of
jgg,origino in Itasca Lake in 1832, wi¥hw appendices, re-
pggts on er mines o TL‘Eem Superior and geological-

observations 0 its region.

18. Humphreys and Abbot, Professional Papers No.13, 1864,
(revised 1876),

lashington, there is the following summary:

The source of the hississippi, according to School-
craft, who in the year 1832, in company with Lieut.
Allen, USA, was the first to visit it, is a lake
named by them, Itasca. hr. Schoolcraft surmised.that
this lake was fed by invisible springs, but Mr.
Nicollet, who visited it in 1836, and determined its
geographical position as now laid down on the maps,
considers this supposition unnecessary. He says,
”There are five creeks that fall into it, formed by
innumerable streamlets oozing from the clay beds at
the bases of the hills. 0f the five creeks, one
empties into the east bay of the lake, four others
into the west bay; and among the latter there is one
remarkable above the others, inasmuch as its course
is longer, and its waters more abundant, so that in
obedience to the geographical rule, 'that the sources
of a river are those which are most distant from its
mouth' this creek is truly the infant Mississippi;
all others below it, feeders and tributaries. The
day on which I orplored this principal creek, August
29, 1836, I Judged that at its entrance to Itasca
Lake its bed was from fifteen to twenty feet wide, and
the depth of the water from two to three feet.'19

The report also gives the information that Niccllet
followed the large creek for six miles and found that it rose
in numerous little streamlete, 'which form a small pond,
from which the kissiseippi flows with the breadth of a foot
and a half and a depth of one foot."20 Judging from that
evidence it appears that Schoolcraft fell about six miles
short of his true objective.

In 1841, when Nicollet published the results of his
orplorations, he made no effort to detract from Schoolcraft's

earlier discoveries, but declared himself satisfied at being

 

T1 Tamra an is: WRmr. pji.
20. Ibid., p.55.

73

able to add to and verify Schoolcraft's findings. When
Schoolcraft revised his early maps for a later edition of
his yarrativg 9; an Erneditign to the Source 9; the gig;-
issippi,21 he drew in Nicollet's Creek as running into
Lake Itasca. In this edition he also quoted at some length
from Hicollet's flzdrcgraphica; gepg 1.22

Other peOple were to appear later, however, to
claim that they were the first to reach the source of the
Mississippi. The outstanding and most presumptuous claim
of all was that put forth by Captain Willard Glazier,23 in
1881. To settle the confusion that arose from the claims
of Glazier} and the others, the Minnesota Historical Society
instructed James H. Baker to make a thorough investigation
of all the claims in order to determine the authentic dis-
coverer of the Mississippi's source.

The results of his research were published by the
Society under the title, “The Sources of the Mississippi,
Their Discoverers, Real and Pretended.'84 For many of his

facts, Baker referred to a book written by Henry D. Harrcwer?‘5

 

21. Lippincott, Philadelphia, 1855.

28. Published in 1841 at the direction of the United States
government.

23. Captain Glazier had been in the cavalry during the Civil

War. See §worg and 3.9.8 g; Ventures and Adventures 9_f_
Willard Glazier, J. A. Owens, Philadelphia, 1844.

24. Hinnesota Historical Collection, Vol. VI part 1.
25. Captain Glazier and Big Lake, New York, 1886.

74

Harrower's work is a remarkable study of one of the most
flagrant cases of literary plagiarism in the field of
American literature. In his capacity as editor of the
Educatigpgl,figpgztgg, Harrower had been urged to recognize
Captain Glazier as the discoverer of the source of the
Mississippi river. Firmly believing that Glazier's clans
of having discovered a lake to which he gave his own name
was fraudulent, Harrower set about to disprove it. In the
furtherance of this task he made a study of all the ex-
peditions to the Itasca Lake region. Harrcwer's findings,
as published, constitute a scholarly and highly commendable
piece of literary research.
Baker's report to the Minnesota Historical Society
is prefaced thus:
In pursuance of a resolution of the Minnesota
Historical Society, dated December 13, 1886, your
committee herewith present a summary of their investi-
gations and conclusions, touching the validity of any
and all claims to the discovery of the head waters
of the Mississippi river, together with a determinatiog
of what waters constitute the true and ultimate sources.
The report, in stating the case against Glazier, states:
Captain Willard Glazier in 1881 assumed to have
discovered a lake, new and unknown, and called it
Glazier Lake, and gave it as the ultimate source of

the great Mississippi. It appears that he wants to
displace Schoolcraft and Hiccllet?7

 

26. ginngggtg Histgrical Cgllection,#Vol. VI, p.192.
27. Ibid., p.194.

75

From the tone of Baker's report it is evident that Glazier's
claims aroused considerable indignation among the members
of the Society. The following is typical:

Society owes it to the honored dead to make a candid,
unbiased, and if possible, conclusive eXposition of
the whole matter. Hapmakers and geographers, have
followed Schoolcraft for fifty years in accepting the
Itasoan basin as the authentic source as it was con-
firmed by Nicollet, July 12, 1832. Nicollet says
with noble courtesy and loyality to historic truth:
“The honor of having first explored the sources of
the Mississippi belongs to Mr. Schoolcraft and Lieut.
James Allen. I came only after these gentlemen; but
I may be permitted to claim some merit for having
completed what was wanting for a full geographical
knowledge of those sources."28

Baker's report concludes with the statement that all
evidence points to Schoolcraft and Nicollet as the real dis-
coverers of the Mississippi source.

For the best account of Glazier's bold attempt to
wrest from Schoolcraft and Niccllet what few honors their
toil against great odds had brought them?91t is necessary
to examine the facts that Harrower gives in Qaptaigflglagigz
sedxhls.keksi

Harrower does not deny that Captain Glazier may have
visited Lake Itasca, but he does take exception to the
activities and remarks that he indulged in upon his return.

Harrower considers the biggest affront to be the petition,

which Glazier addressed to all geographical societies at large,

 

as. Minngggga.gigfiggigg; Cgiieotion. Vol. v1, p.198.

29. Neither Schoolcraft nor Nicollet received any tangible
reward for their work of discovery except the placing
of their names upon the map of Minnesota.

IU

urging them to accept Lake Glazier as the true source of
the Mississippi river. It is interesting to note that the
petition was signed by Glazier's brother and.three Indians.30

Harrower then relates how Glazier afterwards
voyaged down the Mississippi, receiving undeserved homage
at every stopping place. When he reached New Orleans he met
John A. Owen. A little later Owen wrote up the story of
Glazier's travels and published it under the title §gg;g,§ng,
328-31 Harrower is especially indignant because Owen held up
Captain Glazier as a model for the youth of America to follow.

Upon exhausting the possibility of further honor in
America, Glazier sent a selected file of newspaper clippings
regarding his exploits to the secretary of the Royal Gec-
graphical Society of England.32 Harrower also tells how
Glazier attempted, in several instances successfully, to
induce the publishers of geographical texts and atlases to
change their maps of Minnesota so as to show the Mississippi
river as rising in Lake Glazier.

The next step that Harrower takes in building up his
proof of Glazier's fraud is to note the observations of well-
know travellers which show that Lake Glazier is merely a re-

named lake, its original name being Elk Lake, and as such,

 

36L The petition was headed F==hoolcraft's Island, Lake
Itasca, July 27,1881.“

31. r and ggn aveptureg and adventurg. of Willard
Slagggz, Philadelphia, 1884.

32. The Royal Society, gullible as the rest, thanked Glazier
for his clippings and even went so far as to publish
some of them.

77

present on all maps based on the data compiled by the United
States Survey. Harrower considers the following facts as
definite proof that Glazier did not discover a new lake:

In 1838, Nicollet found Elk Lake, but considered it
only as an extension of Lake Itasca.

In 1872, Julius Chambers of the New York Herald noted
the existence of Elk Lake in the story of his ex-
plorations of the Lake Itasca region.

In 1880, O. E. Garrison also explored the shores of
Elk Lake.

In 1884, C. M. Terry visited the same lake, but failed
to see any of the primitive conditions that Glazier
claimed to have observed about the Indians of that
region during 1881.33

Harrower further states that since on good authority
Captain Glazier is known to have spent no longer than seven
hours in the vicinity of Lake Itasca, he must have “Somewhere,
somehow, discovered a copy of Schoolcraft's Narratiyg and
imagined he was the original and only discoverer and possessor
of that work.'34

James H. Baker takes a similar view of the situation:

Did Glazier think he was plundering neglected and
forgotten books? No American scholar will forget
Schoolcraft, no more than he will neglect Audubon.
More and more as the Indian parishes, will School-
craft be recognized as authority and classic. Glazier
struts in all his borrowed plumage, oblivious to
every chance of discovery and dead to every sense of
shame. Though his rank plagiarisms have long been
made public he never modifies his story or abates his
pretensions. It seems useless to further unmask and
displume so stolid a man.35

 

53.,Qantagg Glazier and his Lak§,pp.23-8.
34. Ig1d., p34.
35. Minnesota Historical Collection, Vol. VI, part 1, p.198.

78

Plagiarism is a severe charge to bring against an
author, but in the case of Glazier, which Baker calls 'the
boldest and most flagrant literary piracy to be found in
the curiosities of all literary history",36 the charge seems
to be well founded. The surprising feature of the entire
affair is that Glazier was either too lazy or too sneeringly
disdainful of the American public‘s intelligence to bother
about concealing his borrowings.

Harrower points out that Glazier made a big mistake
when he failed to take into consideration the tremendous
change of conditions that the passing of fifty years had
brought to the frontier. Glazier's description of the Sioux
and Chippewa Indians that he observed at Leech Lake in 1881
as he was on his way to Lake Itasca is identical with School-
oraft's observation of the same Indians made in 1832. The
queer thing is that several decades after Sohoolcraft's visit,
but several decades before Glazier's, all the Sioux Indians
were removed from the State of hinnesota to a point much .-
farther west.37

The following quotation illustrates how Harrower
shows the similarity between Glazier's and Schoolcraft's
work:

At Leech Lake Schoolcraft accepted the invitation of
Aish-Kihug to breakfast where "a salt-cellar in which

 

36. “Discovers of the Mississippi, real and pretended“,§ipgr
MWW. Vol. VI. p.163.

3?. Captain Glazier and his Lake, p.45.

79

pepper and salt were mixed in unequal prcportions,
allowed each the privilege of seasoning his fish
with both or neither.“
At Leech Lake Glazier accepted the invitation of
Flat-mouth to dinner where ”a birch bark salt cellar
in which pepper and salt were mixed in unequal pro-
portions, allowed each the privilege of seasoning
his fish with both or neither.”38
In like manner Schoolcraft's description of Aish-Kihug
of 1832 is identical with Glazier's description of White Cloud
in 1881. Little did Glazier realize that the Leech Lake
Indian of 1881 no longer wore the breech-clout, but dressed
in the manner of their white neighbors. As James H. Baker put
it, “Glazier puts the girl of today in grandmother's clothes.”E3
In stressing the point that Captain Glazier's know-
ledge of American explorers seems to have begun and ended with
what he gleaned from the pages of Schoolcraft's narratives,
Harrower quotes Glazier as saying:
There would be something almost sad in Schoolcraft's
coming so near and yet missing the mark at which he
aimed, if it were not that he lived and died in the
belief that he was right in the assertion that the
Father of Waters rose in a lake, which he, oddly
enough, named Itasca.40
Likewise the following indicates that Glazier erred in assuming
that Schoolcraft followed Nicollet:
Beltrami, Nicollet and Schoolcraft have each in turn

claimed the goal of their explorations. Schoc craft
finally locating a lake that he named Itasca. 1

 

35. 292222, mmw lake. case-3.

:59. W Higtgrica; Collegtiog, Vol. v1, p.198.
40. Captaig Glazier app his gag, p.55. I

41. 1.9.1.1.. p.56.

80

Although Glazier was unwilling, according to
Harrower, to credit Schoolcraft with accomplishing much
in the line of exploration, he was perfectly willing to
copy exactly a table of meteorological observations that
Schoolcraft had carefully and patiently compiled sixty-one
years previously.42 It is interesting to note that School-
craft stopped making entries at two o'clock on August 2,
1820, because of an accident to his meteorological instru-
ment and Glazier made his last entry at the same hour on
August 2, 1861, for no apparent reason other than that School-
craft gave him nothing more to copy.43

Harrower, in his conclusion, says rather sharply that
not only does Glazier pick Sohoolcraft's pookets,,but he also
condescendingly pats him on the back at the same time as is
shown by this passage:

I christened it Schoolcraft river, as a tribute to

its discoferer, who, although he failed to reach the

goal of his explorations, rendered.valuable service

in the department of geography.44

The story of Schoolcraft's trip to Lake Itasca would
not be complete unless mention is made of his differences with
Lieutenant Allen with regard to certain happenings on the re-
turn from St. Peters to Sault Ste, Marie. Perhaps the matter

seems trivial at this late date, but at the time Lieutenant
Allen incorporated the facts into his official report to the

 

42. Schoolcraft made his observations at Big Sandy Lake in 1820.
43. Captain Glazier and his Lake, p.58.
44s Me. p.610

81

United States War department, the matter influenced to
some extent, the treatment of Schoolcraft by the officials
of that department a little later.

On April 12, 1834, a dccument42ntitled.émgaphagg Rgpggt
ummmmmwmmm
‘flgzjhgggi.Infiiagg‘ipnlgfig was read before the House of Rep-
resentatives of the first session of the twenty-third United
States Congress. The following letter accompanied the

report:

War Department
April 11, 1834

iir: In obedience to a resolution of the House
of Representatives of the 28th of March, 1834,
I have the honor to transmit a copy of the map
and report furnished this department by Lieut.
Allen, who accompanied H. R. Schoolcraft, Esq.
to, and beyond, the source of the Mississippi

river, on a visit to the Northwestern Indians,
in the year 1832.

Very respectfully
Your most obedient servant
Lewis Cass

Hon. A. Stevenson 4

Speaker of the House of Representatives.

It seems hardly possible that Secretary Cass could
have approved the criticism the report contained of his friend,
Schoolcraft. The following constitutes Allen's case of com-
plaint against Schoolcraft's action:

ng1 as, gggdgz: hr. Schoolcraft had made it a rule
not to travel with his party, on this eXpedition, on

 

45. Wg; Department Document fig. 323, Twenty-third Congress.
43. ms. . v.1.

82

Sunday, and, supposing he would observe the same on
this day, I confidently expected to overtake him be-
fore night. I was particularly anxious to do so, in-
asmuch as I had no gum for the repair of my canoes,
and I knew he had an abundance, and I wished, more-
over, to get, through his means. at the first Indian
village, two Indians to steer my canoes. I accordingu
1y urged forward as much as possible and got to the
*eite of Mr. Schoolcraft's encampment in the after-
noon, where I learned, by a note left for me by Dr.
Houghton, that the whole party had left, goods and
all, two and one half hours before, with an intention
on the part of hr. Schoolcraft not to wait for me
anywhere on the route, but to proceed home with all
possible speed giving as a reason for this measure,
that the river47 was falling, and any delay but in-

- creased the difficulty of ascending it.43

In the following passage Lieutenant Allen objected strenously
at Schoolcraft‘s apparent desertion: ‘

I was_dissatisfied with this proceeding of Mr. School—
craft's and deemed it unwarrantable by the official
relations in which we stood to each other, inasmuch

as I was thereby deprived of the services of the
surgeon and interpreter, to which I considered myself
rightfully entitled within the intention of the de-
partment, so far as these services might be necessary
for the safety of the detachment, and to enable me

to execute my instructions. These gentlemen had been
employed for the purposes of the expedition, and as
the execution of certain of these purposes had been
separately assigned to me, I had a right to expect
that the means provided for their execution should not
be with—held from me by the power to whom they were
entrusted by the department to control; but by this
sudden and unadvised withdrawal of those means out of
my reach, I was not only embarrassed in the perfor-
mance of an apprOpriate duty, but placed in a situation
of extreme inconvenience, and even danger, which could
not have been anticipated or intended b5 the depart-
ment in the project of the expedition.4 *

 

me St. Croix fiver.

48. W3; W moment fig. §23, 1834. 1313.57-8.
49. m. ,' pe 58.

83

The situation, in a way, was laughable. The military
escort, whose duty was the protecting of the non-combatant
representatives of the government, immediately it was de-
prived of the company of the non-combatants, became helpless.
Undoubtedly, however, Lieutenant Allen was perfectly justi-
fiable in complaining about the departure of the surgeon.

The heat and humidity of the swamps that lay in their return
path offered possibilities of fever that would be hard to
ccpe with unaided by a physician. In view of this Lieuten-
so: Allen wrote the following:

It is not to be supposed that the department would
require soldiers to travel through such a country

as this, and encounter the extraordinary exposure

and danger incident to their transporting themselves,
without some provision of medical aid; and still less
could it be deemed practicable for a detachment of
tr00ps to effect a journey through an unknown, wild,
inhospitable Indian country, without guides of any

kind to direct, or an interpreter, through whose means
to obtain guides or necessary geographical information.
But such was my situation now; I had this route to
travel; of which I neither knew the length or direction,
the quantity or character of its difficulties, or the
time and means that would be required to overcome them.
For supposing that I was to travel with Mr. Schoolcraft,
who had guides I had not made any useful inquiries
respecting it.50

After a good deal more of similar criticism, Allen sums
up his grievances in the following:

By a strange interpretation or disregard of his official
relation to the escort, Schoolcraft has led it, ignor-
ant of such a contingency, into a situation of diffi-
culty not compatible with its separate means of resis-
tance, and there left it to encounter the difficulty

as it best might.51

 

50. MW 3 n Wis-“M383. p.57.
51- Moe 13.58.

84

Without a doubt the soldiers spent a miserable
night cursing Schoolcraft for abandoning them. Their vehement
censuring was a little pre~mature, however, for Lieutenant
Allen records that on July 30:
Two Indians arrived this morning with a note from
Schoolcraft, by which it appeared that they were
sent to guide and assist me up the rapids, for which
service I was to pay them in provisions. They re-
turned with me to this, their village, and signified
that they would go no further, this being as far as
their father Mr. Schoolcraft, had asked or employed
them to 30.52
Since Allen was unable to persuade the Indians to change their
minds, the eXpedition continued on its way with only the river
for a guide. It is questionable, though, if Schoolcraft had
instructed the Indians to turn back so quickly. Naturally
lazy, they never exerted themselves for a party of soldiers
unless actually forced to do so.
When within a day's voyage of Lake Superior, two
more Indians, sent by Schoolcraft, met the soldiers and
guided them down the final stretch of the Brule river.53
Eventually they reached the Sault safe and sound and only a
few days later than Schoolcraft himself.54
schoolcraft's decision to push on and leave the mili-
tary detachment to follow at its own slower pace was not due
to any personal animosity towards Lieutenant Allen. Throughout

the trip they had been friends. Consequently Schoolcraft was

L

53. Ear 231mm Easement He. J58 p.65.
53' MOI p068-
54. M" p.68.

85

not only surprised, but indignant when it came to his attention
that Lieutenant Allen had written into his official report to
the War department such a long and detailed account of the
affair.

In a footnote appended to his publication of the
expedition,55 Schoolcraft defended himself against Allen's
charges with the following:

United States soldiers are not adapted to travelling
in Indian canoes. Comparativsly clumsy, formal, and
used to the comforts of good quarters and shelter, they
flinch under the activities and fatigue of forest life,
and particularly of that kind of life and toil, which
consists in the management of canoes, and the carry-
ing forward canoes and baggage over bad portages, and
conducting these frail vessels over dangerous rapids
and around falls. No amount of energy is sufficient on
the part of the officers to make them keep up on these
trips, with the gay, light and athletic voyageur, who
unites the activity and experience of the Indian with
the power of endurance of the white man. Lieutenant
Allen deserves great credit. as an army officer, for
urging his men orward as well as he did on this
arduous.journey, for they were a perpetual cause of
delay and anxiety to me and to him. They were re-
lieved and aided by my men at every practical point°
but having the responsibility of performing a definite
duty, on a fixed sum of money, with many men to feed
in the wilderness, it was imperative in me to push on
with energy, day in and day out, and to set a manful
example of diligence at every point.

Instead of carping at my rapidity of movement as he
does in his official report of the ascent of the St.
Oroix, Lieutenant Allen, having every supply within
himself, and being, moreover, in a friendly tribe,
where there was no danger, should not have evinced a
desire to control my encampments, but rather given his
men to understand that he could not countenance their
dilatoriness.56

M

55. a r v of a3 Expeditfgg 3g thg Souggg g; the Bigges-
ew York, 1834.

56. MO. p.270‘71.

From the facts already presented it is evident that
the various incidents, with their later develOpments, of
Schoolcraft's eXpedition to Lake Itasca in 1832, were events
of considerable importance in keeping the name of Henry Rowe
Schoolcraft before the public for many years.

87

CHAPTER VIII

THE ISLAND OF MICHILIMACKINACK

The entry in Schoolcraft's diary of may 20, 1833,

contains the following:

I had now performed my last labor at St. Mary's,
which was the preparation of my narrative of the
expedition to Itasca Lake. I looked, in parting,
with fond regret at the trees I had planted, the
house I had built, the walks I had constructed,
the garden I had cultivated, the meadow lands I
had reclaimed from the tangled forest, and the
wide and noble prospects which surrounded Elmwood.
All was to be left, and I only waited for a suit-
able vessel to embark, bag and baggage, for the
sacred island whose formal polysyllables had formed
the dread of my spelling days at school, uichili-
mackinaok.1

A week later, Schoolcraft, his family, and all their
possessions were firmly ensconced in their new home. It was,

as he remarked later,2

a step back towards civilization. The
Straits of Mackinac, at that time, as they are today, were
constantly filled with passing steamers and boats plying their
trade between the great inland seas of Michigan and Huron.

The Island of kichilimaokinack was rich in-tradition
and Indian legend. To it came many visitors3 for vacationing

and business. As a resident of the Island, Schoolcraft gained

 

1. humans. p.440.
8- LRLQ-e P-442o
3. Among the distinguished visitors that were to stop at

Schoolcraft's Michilimackinack home were Washington Irving
and Francis Parkman.

many advantages that he had not possessed at the more remote
and isolated post of St. Mary's. Although reluctant to leave
Elmwood, Schoolcraft nevertheless spent little time in re-
gretting his removal from that point, but attacked his duties
at his new location with all his accustomed vigor. From the
Indians who frequented the Island4 he gathered many different
versions of the legends that he had heard before from the
Indians of the Sault district. The white settlers had interest-
tales to tell, also, of the massacre of 1763, in which the
Indians, suddenly rising against the whites, surprised and
killed practically the entire garrison of the British fort on
the tip of the lower peninsula.5

Schoolcraft spent his first winter at Michilimackinack
rather quietly, most of his attention being given to the duties
of the Agency and the working into final form his collection
of Indian legends. Spring at Mackinack was a busy season. Many
boats arrived, stOpped, and if they found the conditions of
the lakes favorable, pushed on to their destinations.

In the spring of 1833, Schoolcraft made the following
entries in his Journals:

March I433. About eight o'clock this morning, a vessel

from Detroit drOpped anchor in the harbor, causing

all hearts to be gay at the termination of our wintry
exclusion from the world. It proved to be the ”Com-

 

4: Since the Indians regarded hichilimackinack as sacred,
they did not live on the Island, but visited it only for
the purposes of trade and ceremonials.

5. The fort was later removed to the Island.

89

modore Lawrence" of Huron, Ohio, on a trip to
Green Bay.

Rgrgg $933. Messrs. Biddle and Drew finish pre-
paring their vessel, and anchor her out.

Angi; 5th. The mission schooner ”Supply" leaves
the harbor on her first trip to Detroit.

April 25h. The schooner "White Pigeon” enters the
harbor with a mail from Detroit. ”A mail! a mail!”
is the cry.

A221; l§th. A party of Beaver Island Indians come
in, and report the water of the Straits as clear as
could be eXpected of ice, and the navigation for
some days cpen. The schooner “President” from De-
troit, dropped anchor in the evening.

Aggi; L7th, The schooners 'Lawrence",”flhite Pigeon"
and “President" left the harbor this morning, on
their way to battle the waves of Lake Hichigan. The
”Lawrence” it will be remembered, entered the har-
bor on the 14th of March, and has waited thirty-two
days for the Straits to cpen.

A211; thh. The ”Austerlitz" and “Prince Eugene",
two of Mr. Bewberry'e vessels, arrived during the
afternoon.

Angil 21st. The schooner “Nancy Dousman' arrived in
the morning from below. A change of weather super-
vened. Wind N.E., with snow.

A331; 223;, This morning develops a north—east
storm, during which the ”Nancy Dousman' is wrecked,
but all the cargo saved; a proof that the harbor is
no refuge from a north-caster.

Angi; 23rd. Wind west, cloudy, rainy, and some sleet.
About midnight the schooner ”Oregon" came in, having
rode out the tempest under Point St. Ignace.

Aggi; 87th. A boat reaches us from the Sault, show-
ing the Straits and River St. Mary's to be cpen.

ADIIL 3ch. The schooner ”Napoleon” and the "Eliza”
from Lake Ontario, come in. The Indian world, also,
seems to have awaked from its winter repose. Vessels

:ndbcanoes new again cross each other's track in the
ar or.

90

3 The"Huron' departs up the lake, the
Austerlitz" returns.

gay gth, The schooner ”Lady of the Lake" comes in,
without a mail. During the afternoon, the wind also
brings in the 'harengo" with a mail, and in the
night, the ”Supply."
gg1_lggh.The schooner ”Mariner“ our old friend comes
into port with forty emigrants for Chicago. DuringB
the evening the “Commerce" and ”America" Join her.
Just the reading of the above entries gives vividly
a hint as to the romantic flavor with which the days at
kichilimackinack were crowded. It is no wonder that School-
craft enJoyed living and working there. A mighty commerce
passed before his doors.Vast areas of forest stretched in
every direction on the mainland. A voluminous correspondence
brought to him the thoughts and ideas of many learned minds
and carried his ideas to the outside. In addition there was
much reading to be done and many magazine articles to write.7
For some time Schoolcraft had been deliberating as to
what use to make of his collection of material that denoted,
the existence of an oral literature among the Chippewa
Indians. He at first believed that the legends were so 320-
tesque and often so fragmentary that in order to be made
ready for publishing they would.have to undergo considerable

revising. With regard to this Schoolcraft wrote to his friend,

 

6‘? km pp.469-8j5.

7. 1p;g., .515. Under date of June 2, 1834, Schoolcraft
wrote, The editors of the Knickerbocker Magazine solicit
contributions to its pages.” This request is typical of
many that Schoolcraft received from various magazines.

91

Washington Irving, who replied as follows:

The little I have seen of our Indian tribes has
awakened an earnest anxiety to know more concern-

ing them, and, if possible, to embody some of their
fast-fading characteristics and traditions in our

own popular literature. My own personal Opportunities
of observations of them must, necessarily be few

and casual; but I would gladly avail myself of any
information derived from others who have been en»
abled to mingle among them, and capacitated to per-
ceive and appreciate their habits, customs and moral
qualities. I know of no one to whom I would look with
more confidence, in these respects than to yourself;
and, I assure you, I should receive as high and un-
expected favors any communication of the kind you
suggest, that would aid me in furnishing biographies,
tales or sketches, illustrative of Indian life, Indian
character, and Indian mythology and superstitions.3

Schoolcraft, however, undoubtedly well aware of
Irving's penchant for borrowing, did not take kindly to the
idea of turning over his cherished collection of legends to
another writer, even though that writer was as distinguished
as Washington Irving. To this end he remarks:

I had never regarded these manuscripts, gleaned from
the lodges with no little pains~taking, as mere
materials to be worked up by the literary loom, al-
though the work should be done by one of the most
popular and fascinating American pens. I feared that
the roughness, which gave them their characteristic
originality and Doric truthfulness, would be smoothed
and polished off to assume the shape of a sort of
Indo~American series of tales; a cross between the
Anglo-Saxon and the Algonquin.9

If the fact that Schoolcraft had a change of heart

and heartily approved of Longfellcw's use of the same legends

 

8. Assails. p.514.
9. £212.. p.515.

98

a decade or so later as the source material for his figgg
g;,Higwg§hg, seems rather inconsistent in view of his pre-
vious attitude toward Irving's suggestion, it must, perhaps,

I
be attributed to Schoolcrafts deeply rooted fondness for self

expression through the medium of poetry.19

Late in 1835, Schoolcraft went to Washington to be
present at some important Indian negotiations}1 Since the
business did not actually get under way until the following
spring, SChoolcraft remained in the cities of New York and
Washington during the winter of 1835-36.

Upon the successful completion of the Indian affairs,
Schoolcraft returned to Michilimackinack. He said:

My winter in Washington had thrown my correspondence
sadly in the rear. Most of my letters had been
addressed to me directly at kaokinaok, and they were
first read several months after date. Whilst at the
seat of government my duties had been of an arduous
'character, and left me but little time on my hands.
And now, that I had got back to my post in the in-
terior, the duties growing out of the recent treaties
had been in no small degree multiplied.12

Schoolcraft spent the next winter in Detroit, acting
as Superintendent of Indian Affairs for the entire territory

of Michigan.13

While in Detroit he took an active part in
the proceedings of the Michigan Historical Society and also

devoted considerable time to his writing. with regard to

 

10. Schoolcraft's own attempts at poetry are treated with in
Chapter IX.

11. Delegations of Michigan Indians were present at these
negotiations in Washington.

12- We D. 537-
13. Ibid., p.538.

93

this latter, he noted in his Journal under date of April 26,
1837:
V I have filled the pauses of official duty, during
the season, by preparing for the press the oral
legends which have been gleaned from the Indians

since my residence at Sault Ste. Marie, in the
basin of Lake Superior, and at Michilimackinaok,

under the name of Algig Regeggcge§.l4

. The first volume of this work was published in 1838.

Since it was the first of Schoolcraft's books devoted wholly
to Indian material, it merits separate and fuller treatment
later.15

During the years 1838 and 1839 Schoolcraft lived
rather quietly, but made numerous official trips from Michili-
mackinack to Detroit and Washington. On one of these trips to
Washington he placed his children in eastern schools.16

The winter of 1840 was the last that he spent in the
north and it was occupied in the old manner:

Having determined to pass another winter (some ten

weeks of which are past) at Mackinack, I have found

my best and pleasantest employment in my old re-

source, the investigation of the Indian character

and history. -

The season of the Newbyear has been as usual a holi-

day, that is to say, a time of hilarity and good

wishes, with a number of the Indians in the vicinity

visiting the office.l7

The next winter was spent in Detroit, but Schoolcraft
and his family returned to Michilimackinack for the summer
months. This proved to be the last summer that he was to enjoy
i4. Hessian. p.540. A
15. Chapter X.
13. We P0560-

17- m0! 130674

94

the companionship of his "Northern Pocahontas."

follows:

The last entry in Schoolcraft's Mgmgirg is as_

kuggst thh, l§4l. I determined to remove from

hichilimackinack to the city of New York. More than
thirty years of my life have been spent in Western
scenes. So much of my time had been given to certain
tOpics of natural history, antiquities, manners and
customs of the Indian tribes, that I felt a desire
to preserve the record of it, and, in fact, to study
my own materials in a position more favorable tc the
object than the shores, however pleasing, of these
vast inland seas. The health of Hrs. Schoolcraft havo
ing been impaired for several years, furnished another
motive for a change of residence. Beyond all, it was

a return to my native State after long years of travel
and wandering, adventure, and residence, which would
bear, I thought, to be looked at and reflected on
through the mellowed medium of reminiscence and
study.18 -

Immediately upon establishing his residence in New

York, Schoolcraft set about securing a publisher for his

contemplated works on the Indians.19 The publishing companies,

however, were not nearly as enthusiastic about Indian material

as was Schoolcraft, and so he was forced to wait for more

favorable circumstances.

20

While waiting, he took a trip to Europe. During his

absence, his wife, whom he had left with her sister in Ontario,

Canada, died.

18.
19.
20.
21.

mm. p.702. A
The Qnggta series on Indian customs, manners, etc.
kaaaiaa. p.703.

laid” nxli.

21

95

CHAPTER IX

THE MAN OF BRONZE AND OTHER POETRY

While only a lad, Schoolcraft had been wont to write
verses about the beautiful Catskills over which he daily
roamed. he he approached manhood and his Judgment ripened,
however, he came to the realization that these early attempts
at poetry were extremely Juvenile and destroyed all his man-
uscripts. Years later he again turned towriting verses and
although it is questionable whether these later efforts were
any less Juvenile in tone and quality than their boyish
predecessors, they were not destroyed. At least not by School-
craft himself, who busily bent every effort to secure a pub-
lisher daring enough to venture printing them.

Schoolcraft's poetry has been aptly described as

"very conventional.'1 It is Just that. For example, take this

passage from the lengthy 31.3.9. 2f- 19.2 39.5.13
A sterner toil, the prospect new demands
Where drear Savanne,’or lone Cassina stands,
Conmingling glooms besetling all the way,
The day's long tail, the night's longer still dismay,
Woods, where the sun is scarcely seen on high,

And streams that haste to quit a polar sky.

 

l. W. B. Cairns, 5mg; Magicag Litegaturg, p.818.

£36

Lakes, choak'd with rushes, hardly own a tide,

And grassy wastes immeasurably wide,

Where earth and wave a mix'd dominion brings,

And Mississippi draws his infant springs.2
Schoolcraft then follows with a description of how the
Mississippi gradually grows from a mere trickle of water
oozing out from a Minnesota hillside to a mighty, surging

torrent where it meets the Gulf of Hexico.

Proud swelling stream! from sources such as these,
Thou gatherest force to pierce remotest seas,
Supreme example to the sons of fate,
How small effects are gathered into great.

. Pride of the land! unequalled in thy course,
What matchless waters swell thy onward force.
Ohio teeming with a thousand floods,
Missouri, nurtured in Pacific woods,
The rolling Arkansas, whose wreck and tide,
From Ietan plains, from Nexis mountains glide;
These are but parts of thy stupendous stores,
What ooeanplains, illimitably great
Spread‘from thy banks, and raise thy sullen state
What cataracts tremble-ricy lakes abound,

A mass of waters, peerless and profound.3

4

§. The Rise gilth%1West _g.pé_Prospect,_§ th Mississippi
Vall , Detroi m3

3-.lle-. 9-5

9?

Although Schoolcraft's poetry has never gained.much
praise as a whole, some of his passages do have merit as I
examples of good description. The trouble with Schoolcraft,
however, was that he was prone to intrude much unrelated
material. For example:

Yet, though no rhyme, thy banks to fame prolong,

Beyond the warrior‘s chant, the boatman's song

here happy in thy fate than Ganges' tide;

No purblind millions kneel upon thy side!

Beyond the Nile—~Beyond the Niger blest,

No bleeding Parke, no dying Ledyard prest,

Or if one fate forsdoomed the Gaul to bleed

Success o'er paid, and cancelled half the deed.

hot in hot sands, or nameless deserts lost,

A healthful vigor blooms along thy coast

And ever blest above the orient train,

No crouching serf here clanks the feudal chain!

E'en the poor Indian, who in native pride,

Serenely scans thy long descending tide,

Turns in his mind thy course"twixt sea and sea,

and owns with Joyous shouts thy tribes are free.4

When Schoolcraft did write a few lines of gpod poetry
he usually spoiled their effect by making some inferior
additions. This is shown-in the following lines:

 

4. Ihahiaaaflas‘flsai. v.7.

98

As seasons wane, the Indian foe retires,
Faint and more faint becomes his battle fires,
Faint and more faint resounds his battle roar,

Till lost in woods, he wields the blade no more; 5

To which he added the following, which strike a wholly false
note:
Joy claps her hands, the sounds of mirth prevail,

And peace and population fill the vale.’6

The poem undoubtedly would have been vastly more
effective if Schoolcraft had left off those last two lines.
It hardly seems fair of him to require his readers to try
to visualize a cherubic Joy clapping her hands immediately
they have begun to sympathetically sigh for the vanishing
Red Man.

The difficulties that Schoolcraft encountered in
securing a publisher for his verse were not entirely due to
their evident lack of quality, but also to the fact that poems
dealing with Indian material were not exceedingly pepular with
the reading public. In support of this is the fact that one
of Schoolcraft'slong poems, M, which described
the advance of the pioneers into the Missouri country was

published. A later day writer described it as follows:

.-

5. manning. .mw' . p.11.
6. mg... p.11.

 

99

It is an awkward, extravagantly fanciful account of
the ire of the King of metals when awakened by the
sounds of mighty currents of immigration surging
across the Missouri country. A council of the metals
from all the Western country is called to discuss
resistance. The clash of the stones in the debate
which ensues is so great that New Madrid, which once
had been devastated by an earthquake, sinks, and the
encroaching immigrants are so frightened7that their
advance is delayed, at least for a time.
That Schoolcraft was aware of the dubious quality of
his poetry, even while continuing to write it, is shown by a
letter he wrote to William Cullen Bryant in 1851.8 In the
letter he enclosed a poem entitled 3.9!. m g; m and said
that it was the work of a friend of his, William Hetherwold,
who would greatly appreciate any criticism that Bryant would
offer.
Knowing that Schoolcraft had written an essay on
Indian character under the identical title while at Sault
Ste. Marie, it is not difficult to conclude that Hetherwold
and Schoolcraft were the same person. Bryant undoubtedly
perceived the identity because he couched.his reply to School-
craft very tactfully, saying that although he liksd the poem,
. he did not believe that it would be successful if it appeared
under such an unknown name as Hetherwold. 9 After adding that
the form of the poem was twenty to thirty years out of date,

Bryant tempered his criticism by saying:‘

 

8. F. Smith, afichoolcraft, Bryant and Poetic fame. ”W
.kiiazaiazs Vol V p 170.

9-.Ihlis 9-170.

7. R. L. Rusk, The Literature 9_.§he Middle Westerg Frontier,
p. 248, Vol. II. The full title of this poem of School-

craft's mentioned is Transallegania, g£_the Groans 2! the

kisasazi.

100

I have thus written to you frankly what I think

on the subject of your letter. It is a delicate

matter to advise a poet, but you are also a man

who knows the world, and are more easily dealt

with. My Opinions in such matters are not of much

value, but such as they are, you have them.10

Schoolcraft's papers in the Library of Congress
contain two drafts of an unpublished poem entitled Elflhllk'
,magginggg. The final draft, although in Schoolcraft‘e writing,

is under the crossed out name of William Hetherwold.11

In his article in Americanmgitgrajugg, Frank Smith
censures Bryant for not telling Schoolcraft that the gaang
‘gzgggg was of no value as poetry.12 The small praise that
Bryant gave it by saying that he personally liked it en,
couraged Schoolcraft to publish it. Like his other poems, it
failed utterly. The theme of the poem is as follows:

The gap of Eggnzg is an ambitious versification

of the leading ideas of Schoolcraft'e prose works;

that the Indian is fallen from grace, proud, in-

herently slothful yet quick to fight, worthy gf
humane treatment and reform by Christianity.1

Smith criticises the poem in the following:

These notions are not poetry and do not achieve

poetry in the decadent Pepeaniem of stilted coup-

lets and immemorial cliches, "frolic train,“ I'noiey
mirth”, “kindly ardor', "festive sounds”, oto.14

an important fact in eettmating the worth of School-

 

craft's poetry is that neither Irangallggagia, lBal,‘1th§1§e
10. F. Smith. Americas Literaiaas. Vol. V. p.171.

11. IRLQ.. p.171.
13. 19,151.. p.171.
13..Ihid.. p.171.
14. Ibid., p.171.

101

cf the East. 1841. W. 1855. Its has at. mean.
or any of his other published poems15 went through more

than one small edition. Neither did critical notices of
them appeared in such critical periodicals as Thg.flgzfln

www.mmmmmm. mm-
hnsksriiamins. WWW. mmmfl

Messages. and the American Ehis Italian.”5
When it is remembered that practically all of these

periodicals solicited and welcomed Schoolcraft's learned
articles and reviews, this evidently deliberate slighting of
his poetry speaks volumes for its lack of merit.

But rebuff after rebuff could.not persuade Schoolcraft‘t
cease writing poetry, even though it was seldom published. One
of the last things he wrote, perhaps the very last, was a

poem entitled We at the law may!!! it he

commemorated the scenes of his childhood as he had previously

done in Win.

 

 

15. F. Sushi. WW. Vol. V. p.175.

16- m. e P0172-

17. It never was published, but the manuscript is included
in the papers of the Schoolcraft Collection, Library of
Congress, Washington. The manuscript is dated 1882, only
two years before Schoolcraft's death in 1864.

102

CHAPTER X

THE ALGIO RESEARCHES AND ONEOTA

On May 30, 1839, Schoolcraft noted in his Journal,

'Harpere, Hew York, send me two copies of the first issue

of my A1839. W." The entry is hardly two lines in
length, yet it marked the consummation of long years of toil

and effort on Schoolcraft's part to present to the public
the information about the Indian mythology that he had gar-
nered while on the frontier. His actual work had been com-
pleted over a year previously, as is shown by this entry:

26 . Completed the revision of a
body of Indian oral legends collected during the
many years I have spent on the frontier. These
oral tales show up the Indian in a new light.
Their chief value consists in their exhibition
of aboriginal Opinions. But, if published, ins
credulity will start up critics to call their
authenticity in question. There are so many Indian
tales fancied, by writers, that it will hardly be
admitted that there exist any real legends. If there
be any literary labor which has cost me more than
usual pains, it is this. I have weeded out many
vulgarisms. I have endeavored to restore the sim-
plicity of the original style. In this I have not
always fully succeeded, and it has been sometimes .
found necessary, to avoid incongruity, to break a
legend in two, or out it short off.l

The collection was made, as Schoolcraft says, "during
the leisure hours of many seasons in the solitude of the wil-

derness and with the very best interpreters."2 He also states

 

1. limits. P535-

8. The interpreters to whom Schoolcraft refers were his wife,
her parents. and her brothers and sisters,as well as others.

103

that if the style of writing appears to be bold and simple,
it is because the original legend or tale is character-
istically bold and simple and would lose its effectiveness
if presented in any other way. This fact is evidently
overlooked by many of the critics, who, after making a
cursory examination of Schoolcraft's writings, brand them
as simple to the point of being plain.

It was a source of wonderment to Schoolcraft that
no writer had previously discovered the existence of the
Indian legends. He said:

I have heard, 'Who wculd have imagined that these
wandering foresters, should have possessed such a
resource?“ What have all the voyagers and remark-
ers from the day of Cabot and Raleigh been about
not to discover this curious trait, which lifts up
indeed a curtain, as it were upon the Indian mind,
and exhibits it in an entirely new character?3

In commenting upon the refusal of a Mr. A. E. King to de-
liver the annual address before the Michigan.Historicel
Society he expressed the same thought:

Few'men who have capacity are found willing to de-
vote the time necessary for the preparation of a
literary address, even where the materials for it
would appear to lie ready. Another reason in, that
the materials and framework of an address are sought
for at too great a distance, and are thought to be
too deeply buried, to be disinterred by any but ex-
traordinary hands. This is a mistake. The subjects
are at home, and exist not only in exploring old
literary mines, but in the very circumstances around
us.

 

'5. 3min. p.584.
4- 11.3.1.9... 13-584-

104

Schoolcraft's‘glgig_aggsggchg§ was the direct result
of his possessing the ability to see the possibilities of his
surroundings.

There is no better introduction to the,§1gig_5
Rgggagghgg than the review by Henry Whiting, a close personal
friend of Schoolcraft's. He begins with this statement:

Several years since, a few gentlemen of intelligence
in the Northwest associated themselves for the pur.
pose of collecting facts relating to the Indian
character, condition, etc., and putting them into a
shape to be preserved. The first suggestion of this
society came, we believe, from Hr. H. R. Schoolcraft,
who was very prcperly placed at the head of it, and
who gave the name 'Algic' by which it was known.

Mr. Schoolcraft at once set himself at work to fulfill
the purpose for which this society was formed, or
rather, began to arrange his past labors, and pro-
seeded to further researches with new seal. We have
not heard what was done by others. It is probable

that Mr. Schoolcraft alone has produced any useful
result, though other members may have encouraged.his
seal, and urged on his progress.6

i In the foreword to the Aisle. w] Schoolcraft
said that the ”Oral Tales'I that he was presenting constituted
only one phase of the material that he had on hand and that
subsequent volumes would treat the Indians' hieroglyphics.
music, poetry, language and vocabulary. With reference to
support of his project he said:

 

5. The word Algio was coined by Schoolcraft from a combi-
nation of Allegheny and Atlantic.

8. gggjh,mmerig§g‘§gzigg, Vol. XLIX, Oct., 1838, pp.354-5.
7. Schoolcraft. Alain W.

105

We cannot admit, that the Opportunity to acquire
such valuable stores is likely to be lost, through .
lukewarmness or want of proger patronage, on the
part of the reading public.

Schoolcraft's fear that the prcper patronage for a study of
the Indians would not deveIOp was disspelled ten years later

when he was chosen by the government to direct the writing of

a large and inclusive aim 9.1 the ladies when...
Whiting says the following with reference to the

manner in which Schoolcraft treated the Indian material that
he had included in his previous works:

His books of travels all contain much information
relative to the tribes he saw; but this information
was necessarily superficial, excepting as to externals,
numbers, etc. In this respect he was like his pre-
decessors, excepting, perhaps, that he did not pro-
fess to have seen so much as they.9

After stressing the importance of the peculiar advantages
that Schoolcraft enjoyed as the husband of an Indian prun-
cess,.Whiting adds this observation regarding the value of
the oral legends:

schoolcraft saw unfolding a view of the past, as
well as the present, he was catching glimpses of
revolution, physical, moral and national, of the
bearing of which the narratore themselves were
probably but imperfectly, if at all aware. A rude
people, who have no records, no literature, no out~
ward monuments, preserve the knowledgement of events,
by traditions, stories, narratives, or tales, which

 

8. H.819. Rggeagchgg.

9. MWW, Vol. xux, p.356. Whiting is here
taking a fling at the earlier travellers such as Hennepin,
La Hontan, and Carver. In the‘figggg American figzigg of
July, 1839, Vol. XLVIII, there is the statement that Henne-
pin's Narratixgg were fabricated in EurOpe. In the D

Rgzigw of April, 1839, Hennepin was defended from

the charge that he had cepied Marquette's maps. Such con-
troversies were common in the magazines of the day.

106

pass down from father to son, ever changing, no
doubt, in form and expression, but essentially the
same. The main fact, the original event, still
glimmeis like a spark beneath smouldering embers or
ashes.

The appearance of anything new in literature invari-
ably means that a question will be raised by the incredulous
as to the authenticity of the material. The usual cry is
that of "fake“ and 'impcster”, and Schoolcraft was not spared
such igncminious treatment, even though he did not deserve it.

It was in an attempt to silence such criticism that
Whiting wrote:

In the first place, we must endeavor to feel satis-
fied, that they are genuine, that they have been
rendered faithfully, with only such modifications as
are inevitable in the course of interpretation, or
were required to purge them of the grossness which
often intermingles with the narratives of a barbarous
pecple. If we had not confidence in Mr. Schoolcraft's
integrity, which would restrain him from palming
upon the public a series of stories as aboriginal,
which were mainly of his own invention, there is much
internal evidence of their being unadulterated off-
spring of untutored minds of savagee.' They are often
disjointed, extravagant, and repulsive, and most of
them could, with a little art, have been improved in
all these respects, if the plan had been merely to
make them the groundwork of an attractive work of
imagination.11

Whiting gives Schoolcraft extremely high praise when he states:

The standard which we now have for measuring Indian
intellect, and Judging of Indian imagination and

POWGT 01 13V0nt1°n,, of Indian mythological notions

meanwhile. mu rm, 9. 59.
11. me. p.360.

 

 

 

107

and superstitions, a true standard, as we are fain

to believe, would have been falsified and erroneous.

We should still have been left a prey to the fancies

of authors, who could paint the Red Man, en beau, win:

little chance, among their readers, of discriminating

the creagures of the brain from the realities of the
crest.

At the risk of borrowing too much from Mr. Whiting's
article, the following statement is also his:

We have indeed regarded the tales, themselves, as of

secondary importance. It is true they have an in-

trinsio merit, a merit such as a ohudla would die-

cover, who saw or thought nothing of the bearing they

have on a most interesting and deep problem, con!

nected with a portion of the human race.14

But even if the tales themselves are of secondary
importance as stories, they nevertheless deserve examination
with reference to their worth as entertainment. According

to Whiting:
After reading the AIEELEB Eight; Entertainments, and

a thousand and one other Oriental Stories, we are »

inclined to place these Occidental Tales not far be-

hind them in all that does not depend on wealth and

refinement for its effect.15

Many of the tales are about animals.16 This is be-
cause the Indian knew that many cf the animals were wiser
than he, and more industrious, especially in providing

against the wants of winter, and.many times, braver. These

 

 

212. WWW. V01. 11:13. p.360.

13. In 1860, and again in 1916, there were published children's
editions of 12§1§3.F8sz Tal , selected from Schoolcraft's

mum.
14. §QI§Q_Amerigag Rgvigw, Vol. XLIX, p.362.

15- 1919-. P-353.

18. In 'Ojeeg Annung, the Summer-Maker" the wolverine, the
symbol of Michigan, plays the leading role.

108

characteristics of the animals command the respect of the

Red Man and consequently bulk large in tale and legend.

Many of the best_tales in Schoolcraft's work are about

animals. Take, for example, the tale of the Celestial Sisters.

17 who

In this tale, a white hawk called Waupee,
who lived as a hermit, is the hero. Originally an Indian
with the magic power to change his shape to that of any
animal, he had wooed and won the heart of a Star Maiden who
was accustomed to come down to earth to dance. After hear-
ing a child, the Star Maiden returned to the heavens. Waupee,
disccnsolate at losing his wife and child, contrived to enter
heaven also. With him he took the tails of birds and the
feet of animals. Suddenly, during a feast of the stars,
these segments of the earthly animals took shape. They can
be seen to this day in the various constellations in the sky.

Iamc, or the Undying Head,18 is an Ottawa tale of
horrors that well exhibits the extravagant manner in which the
Indians were prone to exaggerate in their stories to the ut-
most limits of their imagination. In this story, a monster
she-bear was beaten to-fragments by the combined assault
of ten brothers. The death of the big‘bear was of little
use, however, since every fragment of her body became a cub

bear, and thus perpetuated and increased the race of bears.

 

17. The peatfcowper has a reference to fie lodge such as
taupee's in some vast wilderness.“

18. This tale is included in both the'ALgiguggggagghgl_and
the mg 21 Hiagathg.

109

In explanation of the allegory of this tale Whiting
says:

This suggests to Schoolcraft the aboriginal notions

concerning the dead, the immortality of the soul,

the resurrection of the body, etc.

It can be inferred from these tales, that there are

certain impressions stamped on the human mind, be-

speaking the common origin of men, and their common
subjection to influences arising from certain great
moral and physical changes, that no time, no climate,
no dispersion, no degradation can wholly obliterate.

Enough ever remains to tell the great truth, that

"in the beginning“ we were all the same.19

Another tale that requires mention, as it is in,
variably included in the may; m for children,
is Mon-daupmin, or Origin of Indian Corn. In substance it
is the age-old tale of Ceres, but in a western setting. Unp
fortunately the Indians drew no moral from the story, but
continued their policy of lasy indifference to productive
tilling of the soil.

In many of the tales, there is a character kanabceho?o
the great incarnation of the Earth. In one of Schoolcraft's
travel narratives it is stated that the Indians believed
that kanabozho lived in the mist over Isle Royals, which was
neither heaven nor earth, but something of an indefinite
quality even as was manabozhc. w

The resemblance of the Indian tales to those of Greek

mythology is striking. In the Red Swan there is a descent into

 

 

l9. MWRgvigw, Vol. 11.11, p.367.

20. This is the deity that Longfellow confuses with Hiawa-
tha, the Iroquois statesman, in his mg; Hiawatha.

110

the regions of the dead that is comparable to that taken by
Orpheus. To the Indian a distinction was clearly made as re-
gards the ultimate disposition of the"gocd” and the ”bad! The
former were supposed to continue dwelling in the "light”, but
the latter spent eternity in the shadow of a “dark cloud.I

The tales are too numerous and lengthy to be given
further notice here.81 It would profit anyone to examine them.

It hardly seems necessary to state that the 5131;
Researches were tremendously successful. Schoolcraft received
many favorable comments upon them from the various critical
Journals and newspapers. His friends, too, congratulated him
warmly for making such a notable contribution to American

literature.28

 

21. The better known tales include: The Son of the Evening
Star, which is an allegory that gives an interpretation
of the name of Michilimackinack. The Enchanted Moccasins,
in which a boy is pursued by the irate brother of two
enchanted sisters. The boy eludes his pursuer by hiding
in the body of a dead moose, while his moccasins keep on
making tracks to the end of the world and thus continue
to lead the brother farther and farther away. Puck Wind;
Ininee which gives a glimpse of the deluge and how a new
earth was created by Manabosho with a little mud that was
brought up to the surface by the muskrat. The Weendigoes
is a tale about people that are similar to the Pcluphemi
that Ulysses struggled with on his long voyage.

23. ggmgigg, pp.650-53. The Detroit Daily Advertiser's notice
is typical: "He has been honest in his renderings of the
aboriginal sense, whether pointed or mystical, of the
Indian's mythology, whether intelligible or obscure; of
their shadowy glimpses of the past and the future; of the
beginning and end of things, without alteration or em-
bellishment. Such a work was wanted, and such a work was
expected from Mr. Schoolcraft.“

111

Henry Whiting, whose very favorable comments on the
‘Algig Researches had much to do its success, sums up his im-
pressions of the work in the following:

The tales render all nature social, endowing its

various products, its birds, beasts, fishes, and '

trees, with the faculties of reason and speech and

powers of transformation, that give them pecul ar

influence over the fortunes of man, for good or

for evil. Hearlyfall of them are undoubtedly of an

early origin, as most of their allusions show an

ignorance of modern arts and events. With few ex-

ceptions, not a hint is found in them that refers

to improvements derived from the whites. They be-

long to the "era of flint arrow heads, earthern

pots, and skin clothes.‘I Nature is untouched, not

a tree is cut down.33

Encouraged greatly by the success of his Algig,Rgggarghes
Schoolcraft began issuing a series of popular priced, paper
covered books on the characteristics of the Indians. During
the years 1844-45, eight numbers were printed and were well

received by the public. In 1845 the entire eight numbers were
bound into one volume and issued as Qggota;pg;_Cha;agte;ilticg
almiha;Eadmfla2sH21H5aa£iaa.££hflisuflunumflr£mflmmgeagsaanar
‘ngzinfiag4 For several years no more of the papers were
published, until in 1848 m m in m Wzgppeared.
This was followed by The Egg Bags 9_f_ America, 2.1.1.9. American
Indians, agg_Western Scenes and Reminiscences.

Fundamentally the same, these publications contained
little that was different from the material of the earlier

QBSQEQ-

 

33. fig;th,§mgricag Revigg, Vol. XLIX, p.361.
24. Published by Wiley and Putnam, New York, 1845.

25. .Published by Graham-Burgess, New York, 1848.

112

CHAPTER-XI

HISTORIAN OF THE RED MAN

With his reputation as an Indian authority firmly
established, Schoolcraft soon received an appointment from
the government of New York to conduct an extensive study of
the Iroquois tribes.

From the data gathered while thus engaged, Schoolcraft
produced a volume for the pepular trade with the title gates
11 5.1.1.3 W} which contained, according to its subtitle,
contributions to American history, antiquities, and general
ethnology. with its publication, Schoolcraft was further
strengthened in his position as the foremost Indian authority

of the day. The 32:1; American Review noticed the Ngtgg.gg

$.82 13.932215! as. follows:

Ordinarily, the book of travels that comes out of the
publisher's hands is as unlike the notes which came
out of the valise at the end of the Journey, as a
specimen of lead ore is unlike the pewter dish into
which it may have subsequently been converted.

No one would be more likely than Mr. Schoolcraft,
himself, to consider his books of travels among the
Indians as mere highway and byway sketches. These
hasty glances, however, led him to desire further
and better opportunities of investigating their con—
dition, character and history. Even his cursory
views had convinced him that they were a peculiar
peOple, and in no one thing more so than in their
inoommunicative deportment before strangers; the
appearance of such persons among them was a signal
for assuming an impassive and inexprsssive aspect,
that marked them, for the time being, as children
of the mist.2

 

1. Published by E. H. Pease and 00., Albany, 1847.

2. Nerth American Review, Vol. LXIV, p.295.

 

113

The article continues by criticising Schoolcraft's

choice of Mg; Eli 1.1993213 as his title as being most

unfortunate, because considerable of its content deals not

merely with the Iroquois tribes, but with the entire Indian

race. The following statement is made with regard School-

craft'e previous choice of titles:

His,§1gig R ea h , which will, at some future
,date, be regarded as the broadest and clearest
mirror of the red man's intellect that has ever
been set up before the public eye, suggested
nothing as to the hearing or purport of the vol-
umes. The title is hardly equal to the old sign,
'Inquire Within.“ And fOneota” called for as much
explanation. A novel may play bopeep with its read-
ere in this way, as such readers generally delight
to be puzzled. But all Mr. Schoolcraft's works have
deserved a right name.3

With the eXpression of a hope that Schoolcraft be offered

opportunities to continue his work, the article closes by

saying:

These materials have been collected in his hands
to a rare and valuable amount. me call them rare
and valuable, because they have all the stamp of
genuineness, and will hereafter aid.more in con-
structing a monument to a perishing race of human
beings, than any other that are in the white man's
possession. Some of them have been spread before
the public eye; but much, we believe, yet remains
behind. There has not been an encouragement to
give them to the pubiio.4

hr. Whiting, the author of the above, was soon to

have his worry as to Schoolcraft’s need of encouragement

relieved, for late in the same year, 1847, Congress passed

 

3. gpggg,imggigan Review, Vol. LXIV, (April, 1847?, p.296.
4- Mo 0 p- 296-

114

a bill which authorized Schoolcraft to begin writing a history
of the American Indians. He was voted a sizeable grant of
money by Congress and given “carte blanche" as to what to
include in his work. Working under such instructions was
exactly what Schoolcraft desired and he commenced his task
with all his customary seal. In order to be near to the heady
quarters of the Indian department, he moved from New York to
Washington.5

The path to a successful consummation of his project
was not an easy one. The initial appropriation was soon ex-
hausted and Congress had to be petitioned more than once for
additional sums. Charges were made that Schoolcraft was not
accomplishing as much as he should. Such criticism, especially
when it came from old friends like Francis Parkman, hurt.
Parkman said, 'I consider the work was quite inadequately done
in view of the unusual facilities that were placed at his dis-
posa1.'6 ‘

When the previous dependence of Parkman upon School-
craft for many details of Indian lore is noted, the above

statement appears quite unkind.7

 

5. mm; 13-13311.

6. The Misses. Vol. XXIV. p.393.

7. In Parkman's preface to his W 9; m, he thanks
Schoolcraft for contributing material. Likewise through the
book there are numerous footnotes of material taken from
Schoolcraft. Parkman also carried on an extensive correspon-
dence with Schoolcraft through which he received a great
deal of information from Schoolcraft's knowledge of the

n ans.

115

There are many items in the gaggggssiggaluglggg, and

the Qgggzggsigpal_§pggzg, which show that the subject of School-
craft and his gigtggz,g1 the Indian Trips; was frequently the

business of the day on the floor of the House. For example,
take this report of the proceedings of April 16, 1850:

Nr. Sebastian submitted the following resolution,

which was considered by unanimous consent and agreed

to: Resolved,that the Committee on the Library in-
quire into the propriety of causing to be printed,
in suitable form, the statistical information
collected under the supervision of the Bureau of

Indian affairs, in pursuance of special actsaand

apprOpriaticns for that purpose, and report.

It is interesting to not that the Thirty-first Con-
gress, in session during 1849, contained as a member, John
L. Schoolcraft of New York. Lewis Cass was also a member.9

After one volume of Schoolcraft's work was off the
press, a heated debate occurred in the House of Representatives
as to the worth of continuing the project. According to the
.ngpg, Mr. Dunham of Indiana said, 'I move to strike out the
clause of the bill for continuing the collection, and for pub-
lishing the statistics, and other information authorized by
the act of the third of March, 1847, and subsequent sets,

10
817,000.”

In support of his motion, Mr. Dunham offered the

following reasons:

8. ngg§gssignal giggg, Vol. XXI, part 1, April 16, 1850:“
P. o

8. Case was a senator from Michigan.

10. Ibid., Vol. XXIV, part 2, March 27, 1852, Pp.875-8.

116

There has already been orpended for the purpose'
for which this.appr0priation is asked, in 1847,
£5,000 in 1849, t5,ooo, in 1850, $10 000, in
1851, £15,000 and they now ask for 315,000 more.
They have but Just begun the work. It is another
of these publications fastened on Congress, and
that go on increasing year after year like the
Archives and various other works that have been
published here.

With increasing vigor, Mr. Dunham mentioned the already
printed first volume: ‘

The committee will recollect that the gentleman
from Arkansas, but a little while ago, offered
an amendment to reprint the first volume of this
very work for distribution to the new members of
Congress.

Then he attacks the work itself:

Any gentleman who examines the work must say that
it does not contain that kind of information that
ought to be procured and published at the public
erpense, however valuable it may be as a literary
work. Members of last congress, not here now,

with volume I, will want volume II. This is another
of those speculations which are becoming so common
in this country.

As a final uncomplimentary comment on Schoolcraft's results,
Dunham added:

Why, Sir, you can go into half the book stores

of the country and buy all the information at

half the price.11

Such a slanderous remark brought Mr. Johnson of Arkansas
to his feet with a defense of the appropriation and the work
itself. For a few moments the debate waxed, as is customary in

the halls of Congress, fast and furious:

11. Qcasrsaaiaa l 91222:Vo1. XXIV. pp.875-78.

Mr. Johnson,

Mr. Dunham,

hr. achnson,

Mr. Dunham,
hr. Johnson,

11?

”Did the gentleman Oppose it during the last

congress?"

”Most certainly I did.”
“Well, I suppose the gentleman took.his book as

amatter of course?”

"To be sure I did, so did everyone.else.'

“I took one, and I took it in obedience to the

policy adapted by the act of 1847 that pro~
vided for the collection and publication of

the history and statistics of this peculiar
race and the distribution of them. The object
is to preserve them, and hand them down to
posterity. Sir, these works will furnish facts
through ages to come, when not only shall we
be gone and forgotten, but when, perhaps, there
will be no rememberance that there ever was
such a Congress as the thirty-second.”

At this point hr. Johnson was interrupted by Mr. Tuck of

North Carolina, who asked, 'Is the apprcpriation to pay for

orpenses already incurred, or for erpen es to be incurred in

the future?”

He was replied to as follows:

hr. Johnson, 'I will thank Mr. Tuck to refrain from break-

ing into my train of remarks with irrevelent
questions. The United States owes a debt to

the land to preserve these statistics. Sir,

there is no subject connected with our his-

tory, that will in future years be of deeper
or more thrilling interest. 3

At this point in the debate, Mr. Venable gained the floor

and delivered the following long speech:

“Hr. Chairman, not quite 300 years since, white-

men first placed foot upon this continent. Those
then in possession have perished and passed
away before his agressive march, like the snows
before the rays of the sun. The memorials ofa
race, manly, fierce, and warlike, are fast fad-
ing away, and tradition becoming diluted with
fabulous narrative, is losing all claims to
credibility. In this state of things; our

 

18. Congressional Globe, Vol. XXIV, pp.875—76.

118

government directed by law that the remnants of these
memorials be collected.“

And then he gave this tribute to Schoolcraft:

“To perform the work, one was selected whose personal
knowledge of the peculiarities and the history of the
Indian Race was combined with high literary attain-
ments, and yet a higher moral qualification. A life
spent in association with, and a profound sympathy
for, the aborigines, qualified him to perform the
task in a.manner which commends his work to the con-
fidence and admiration of the world; and by it the
name of Henry Rowe Schoolcraft will descend to pos-
terity, canonised as the friend and historian of a
most interesting peeple.' 13

At the suggestion of Mr. Johnson, the House then passed
the appropriation and_8choolcraft was thus enabled to con-

tinue work on his great project.

' The magnitude o: the mm 9.: its Indian mm in

its final form is hard to realize unless the six massive

volumes of it are actually examined. The following paragraph
from the ggxth,émggigag Egzig; adequately describes the ex-

ternal appearance of this work:

Each of these volumes is thirteen inches long, eleven
broad, nearly three inches thick, and weighs exactly
ten pounds; these volumes are as attractive in
appearance as they are ponderous. All the resources of
the paper-maker, the designer, and the engraver, have
been lavished upon them. It is a luxury for the eye
to rest upon the large expanse of their faultless
pages, whose virgin whiteness is broken only by the
firm impression of the well out types, every letter
standing out with as much clearness and precision as
if engraved in agate. On the whole, the volumes are
the most sumptuous that have yet appeared in our
country, and their publication may fairly be as d to
form an era in the art of American bookmaking.

 

 

13f Wanna Vol. xxrv. pp.875-76.
14- WWW: V01, LXVII: Jul” 18530 P.345.

119

In the same article there is expressed consider-
able surprise that Congress was so liberal with School-
craft. As the author, Frank A. Bowen, states, similar projects
such as that of Hiccllet and Fremont, were allowed such scanty
funds that their findings had to appear in the form cf very
dingy pamphlets.15 In the words of Bowen:

What lucky accident or skillful management has

rescued Mr. Sohoolcraft's Indian Researches from

a similar fate, we cannot tell.16

Undoubtedly Schoolcraft's ready access to the public
funds was due, not to luck, but to very skillful management
and planning, both on his part and that of his influential
friends.17 _

In the E11191! 21 the m Ixibgg are collected a
large amount of data about the Indians and much material that
has little to do with the Indians. As in Schoolcraft's ggmgizs,
the facts are there, but the arrangement is poor. In this re-
spect Parkman's criticism was well founded, even if in bad
taste. Mention must be made, however, that Schoolcraft was
forced through ill health, to delegate some of his work to
assistants.

Frank A. Bowen'slgriticism of the W 91 m
.IlflilnH111221 was extremely derogatory in tone. This passage,
for instance, is typical:

 

1'5'. m Ameggggg sevggwfVoi. uxvn, p.247.

16. M” p.245. .
1?. Especially Lewis Case.

18. Bowen was the foremost critic of the N, A, Review.

It contains little or nothing that is new, as a
collection even of materials previously well known,
it is very incomplete, and not even an attempt is
made to systematics the information, or to deduce
from it any general conclusions or theories which
may throw light upon the ancient history of the
Indian race or the revolutions which it may have
undergone.lé '

It also berates Schoolcraft for including‘such unrelated
material as an essay on the gold deposits of California.
The article with regard this is quite caustic:

Of the whole essay, chapter, or section, whichever
the author may please to call it, we may well say,
"The thing itself is neither rich nor rare;' and
when we find it interpolated into a huge volume

about the native tribes of North America, we have 20
no feeling “But wonder how the devil it got there.‘

Ir. Bowen also takes exception to the inclusion of mineralogy:

Next, in the order of or disorder of Ir. Schoolcraft‘s
first volume to a section purporting to be 'kineral~
cgical and Geographical Notices, denoting the value

c aboriginal territory;' a magnificent title for

a small collection of scraps, which appear to have
been cut out of the newspapers, about tin on the
Kansas river, lead ores in Wisconsin and Iowa, native
silver in Michigan etc. The astonished reader may
well ask, What hag all this to do with the North
American Indians: 1

The six volumes of the W 91 m m m
are filled with pictures and engravings. In fact to one who
examines the books today, they are, perhaps, the most striking
feature. Most of the pictures were by Captain Eastman, of
the United States Army, one of the foremost artists of his

day. Tb Bowen, however, these numerous drawings were of little

 

T5. WWW? Vol. LXXVII. p.347.
30- 1311-. 9-248-
31- 1214-. 9.349-

value. He says: ~'

Hr. Schoolcraft grossly exaggerates when he claims
that this picture writing of the Indians is art.

We find over one hundred pates, and about a score

of colored engravings devoted to a detailed or-
position and discussion of this profitless theme.
-Sheet after sheet, covered with sprawling outlines
of man, bird, and beast, smeared with bright yellow
or dirty red, add nothing to our knowledge of Indian
character or Indian history.

This whole series of plates, and the letter-press

with which they are accompanied, might afford amuse-
ment to infants, but certainly could impart no in-
struction to a child five years old. Indeed, we are
compelled to believe that one of the principal objects
in getting up the work was to afford a profitable

job to the engravers.22

In view of the fact that the M W m

was never illustrated, Bowen's criticism of Schoolcraft's

profusely illustrated texts appears slightly prejudiced.
Especially when he said:

We are compelled to believe, in most of the cases,
the text was written_in order to illustrate the
plates, instead of the plates being designed to
elucidate the writer's meaning.83

Likewise the following remarks are similar in nature:

Velums one seems order when compared with l'ths cons
fusion worse confounded" of parts two and three. A
reference, near or remote, to the Horth American
Indians is generally perceptible, but not always.

The whole work forms only a huge repertory, in which
are jumbled together all the materials that the

editor can lay his hands upon, letters from corres-
pondents, abstracts of old books, vocabularies, statis-
tics, any matter to illustrate a fine engraving, etc.
Due to Schoolcraft's life and marriage, we were led

 

55? magnum ‘Vol. Lxxm. p.555.
23. Ibid., p.257.

to expect some interesting traditions of the Indians.
We were disappointed. The few legends and mythical
stories that are narrated, seemed to have received
so much factitious embellishment in the translation,
that they throw little light upon the history or the
intel§zctual habits of those among whom they origin-
ated.

Included in the six volumes are many pages of tables
that are merely outlines with no figures listed. It seemed
that Schoolcraft had intended to fill these with vital
statistics for all the tribes, but had gone no further than

the Iroquois, which tribe, it will be remembered, he had

studied extensively before.25

Bowen's estimation of Schoolcraft's accomplishment,
or lack of accomplishment, is embodied in this summary:

we have spoken very plainly, but not from any feel-
ing of unkindness towards their author or editor,
who has gained some reputation for his extensive
acquaintance with Indian affairs, and some credit
for his former publications. This is a work of lofty
pretentions upon a matter of great interest to men
of science. If allowed to go forth to the world unv
challenged, it will be the means of casting a re-
proach upon American science. We have the highest
authority for stating that Baron Humboldt35 said it
was a crude and worthless compilation, and his great
surprise was that it was allowed to appear with the
sanction cf the United States government.37

Over and against this comment of Baron Humboldt can

be balanced the constructive criticism of the celebrated and

 

esteemed Chevalier Bunsen, who, in his gutlines of the

d .

 

5?. MAW mm. Vol. LXXVII. p.237.
25. 1219.191 mlmuais. 1847.
28. Humboldt had visited Schoolcraft at Michilimackinack.

87. ‘gggth,Amerigan Revieg, Vol. LXXVII, p.262.

W 9; Ugivgrga; mfg says this about School-

craft's.ELIIQIZHQIHIBS.Ihfliaaulilhll3

It may fairly be said that by this great nationsl

and Christian undertaking, which realizes the aspira-
tions of President Jefferson and carries out to their
full extent the labours and efforts of a Secretary
of the Treasury, the Ron. Albert Gallatin, the
Government of the United States has done more for the
antiquities and language of a foreign race than any
Eurcpean Government has hitherto done for the
language of their ancestors. Certainly scarcely any
single man has done more for collecting and digesting
the materials than Mr. Schoolcraft, whose own obser-
vations and inquiries form the most important part

of that publication. 29

If that statement does not equalise.the criticism of Bowen
and Humboldt, the following remark of Bunsen's will:
by H. R. Schoolcraft

is the most invaluable contribution to Universal

History made in the nineteenth csntury.30

But what of Schoolcraft's work in the compiling of
these monumental volumes? Did he merely use what material
he had on hand, or was he forced to collect it in a difficult
and.painstaking'manner? Judging from the following statement
of Schoolcraft's it was most assuredly the latter:

Owing to inherent difficulties the statistical in-

quiry has, from its inception, been one of 'ora st

labora'. Both the Indian and the local officials

have been either adverse to the object, imprecise in

their statements, or generally indifferent to the
investigation, but yet, notwithstanding every dis-

4“

‘55. Published.in Lbndon, 1854:
9"ngii22%uL f the MPhiloscphy of Universal Histor , Vol.11,
p. otefi n A ibone s Migtionarz of Authors, Vol. II,
p. 1952.

so. 9hriaiiaaiix and Mankind. London. 1854.

 

124

couragmment, the tables now submitted, which are
the results of elaborate researches, are believed
to be more accurate and comprehensive than any
previously obtained.31

In the preface to the $1519.11 21 3.1.1.9. Indian when.

Schoolcraft made some very favorable statements regarding the
Indians. As he had been so close to the Indians for so many
years. his statements about them carried considerable weight.
Contrary to the pepular supposition of considering the Aztecs
of Mexico as having been the most cultured North American
aboriginal race, is the following statement of Schoolcrafts:

Compared to the Indian tribes that occupied the
southern parts of the continent, the vesperio tribes
were characterised by greater personal energy, man-
liness, eloquence, and power of thought. They were
were remarkable for greater vigor of constitution
and character than the southern tribes. Nationality
had not exerted, as it did in the trepics, such in-
prcpitious influences on individuality. They were
bold and free. Private and not municipal or public
works absorbed their energies. No impersonal Inca
had arisen to place on their necks the dynastic yoke
of either ecclesiastical or civil despotism. The
voluntary labor expended on the construction of an
earth mound by the population of a village, and the
compulsory toil exacted by the erection of a pyramid,
are the examples of the two extremes of the Indian
Polity. 33

schoolcraft also points out that the Northern Indians
were even superior in culture and religion to the races of
Asia:

Horrific idols there were none. No victim of super-
stition plunged himself into a sacred stream; no
widow sacrificed herself on the funeral pyre of her
husband; no mother was the cruel murderess of her own
female infant. The Great Spirit was adored as the

 

31. 12,§Qg_ggmg1§§12ggrugg Indian Affairs, Departmentfi
o the Interior, Washington, October 30, 1857.

32. History g£,the Indian Tribes, Vol. VI, preface.

125

Giver and the Taker of life. Even their demi-gods,

ianabozho, and Hiawatha, were the impersonations of
kindness and benevolence, and were regarded as hav-
ing come down among the human race, with the feel~

ings of men, to teach them arts and knowledge.33

In reference to statements of Schoolcraft's similar

to the above, Rusk, a twentieth century historian, says:

Another

Henry Rowe Schoolcraft, in his books primarily de-
voted to travel, seldom failed to include import~

ant digressions on antiquarian subjects. Much credit

is due to this western ethnologist for Opening up a
new source for American poetry. Although incredulous
in his attitude towards the work of contemporary
antiquarians, Schoolcraft, nevertheless advanced 34
theories of his own regarding the prehistoric Indians.

statement of Rusk speaks of Schoolcraft as follows:

He was attacked as the henchman of Governor Case,
and his books were ridiculed as the fruits of
executive patronage; but it is certain that his
equipment as a student and his opportunities as an
observer, of Indian customs and folk lore were such
as few writers on these subjects could boasti35

Most of Rusk's contemporaries.in the field of Amer—

ican criticism take the same general view of the worth of

Schoolcraft's work. They admit that his writings are valuable,

even if somewhat crude and unpolished. Spiller says that
Schoolcraft initiated the broader study of Indian culture, but

also points out that many of his conclusions have since been

proved erroneous, the chief mistake, being the confusion of

Hiawatha and Manabosho.36

 

33. 1&1 all 3.12:2 Indian 111229.. Vol. VI. preface.

34, R. L. Rusk, Th; L terature 2;,the Middle Western Frontier,
Vol. I, pp.84l-4 . f

35. mo 9 Po 243-

36. Rofggt E. Spiller, ghg_Rogt§‘g£ National Culture 33.1836,
P. .

136

W. B. Cairns, in his general history of American
literature says this in a hasty treatment of Schoolcraft:

Western writers give the material for history rather

than the finished work. Schoolcraft was especially

interested in Indian folk lore, and prepared two

collections of tales. He also wrote a number of

rather conventional poems on Indian subjects. The

interest of his prose work lies chiefly in the sub-

Ject matter, but his style is simple and usually

adequate.37

The most appreciative treatment of Schoolcraft by
any of the present day writers is that made by Kaiser in his
Ihg mm 13 W W. Keiser who made a thorough
study of all early American writers who used the Indian as
subject matter, states emphatically that it is certain that '
Longfellow would never have been able to write 111 mg 91
M, if he had not had acess to Schoolcraft's m
Bantams-38

According to a theory advanced by Dondore, the pioneers
of the West, or as she terms then, 'the sons of the West”, were
motivated by a burning desire to make all other peeple realise
the advantages possessed by the Western country.39 Miss
Dondore says that this avid feeling for their home regions
resulted in the develcpment of a rich sectional literature and
that Schoolcraft, Timothy Flint, and Judge Hall were the leads
are of the movement.40

57. W. B. Cairns, a History 91 American Literaturg, p.373.
38. Albert Keiser, Th9 Indian in_American Literature, p.198.

39. D. A. Dondore,,1hgԤ;a1;;g d h making f Biddlg
Amuse. p.306. £1— Ls L

so, m, , p.207.

 

137

Little more need be said about Schoolcraft's
3.111911 9.1 m m m. Its six volumes repose on.
the shelves of many libraries, silent witnesses of a day
long past, when the fast vanishing Indian and his culture
was a subJect of moment, not merely idle curiosity. Regard-
less cf whether they are used much any more by the average

reader, the W 91, m m m remains the author 1-
tative record book of the American Indian.“1

 

‘Iii‘ A random examination of the books in the Indian collection
of any fair sized library will show the frequency with
which the authors of books about Indians consult School-
craft's great work. For example, all of the following
books contain references from Schoolcraft3m1hgm%gduyg
gigggllggl, V. W. Beach, Albany, 1877. g1

he has: Managua and the great. CW E H

lair, New York, 1 11. Ng;1h,§m§_i_an, , George
Catlin. London. 1876 lbs amassing M g .m-
derful Valle , Julius Chambers, New ork, 1910.

Indian Fa aig¥ F. Choates, New York, 1916. 133,1ggigg,

oda , ar as .A1‘ Eastman, New York, 1915. H tor
Egan,“ George N. Fuller, New York,1924. rave

Among the Northern Indiang, Thomas L. McKenney, New York,
18 6 ,§;§§g£;g_§§g§;g§g, E. 0. Wood, New York, 1918.

188

CHAPTER XII

THE SONG OF HIA'NATHA

A treatment of Schoolcraft's life must certainly
include a least a cursory discussion of Longfellow's m 91
‘fliaggthag‘because it is in connection with this poem that the

mention of Schoolcraft's name occurs most frequently today.

The m M 591.19.! welcomed Longfellcw's

new poem in the following manner:
The old favorite has sung us his new song. He has
broken the silence of four years. He has lighted

‘up the cld.legends, he has given nest and voice to
them quite new.

We could not have written a better Indian poem and
we do not think ur. Longftllow could, and we do not
think anybody else could.

Because of the following statement of Longfellcw's,
there has never been any doubt as to the source of his mater-
ial:

I pored over Mr. Schoolcraft's writings nearly three

years, before I resolved to apprOpriate something of

them to my own use.3
Consequently the adverse critics have had to content them-
selves witfi suggesting that the metre scheme of the mg 91

‘giagggh§,was plagiarized from the Finnish epic, gglgzalgg and

 

l. ”The Song of Hiawatha“, North American Review, Vol.
LXXXII, p.378, (January, 1858).

2. Albert Kaiser. 1h: ladies in Maxim We. p.193.
3. 132.151.. 9.193.

129

with discovering that Schoolcraft, in unwittingly confusing
a Chippewa deity and an Iroquois chieftain, had led Long-
fellow to make the same error.4

In spite of such minor flaws, however, Longfellow's
m 91 W achieved such a success5 that Schoolcraft
was encouraged to put out a new edition of his Algighfiggggrghgg

under the title 11;; am 91, m.6 Putnam's Magasine re-
viewed its publication in the following:

There is getting to be a Hiawatha literature, as
there is a Shakespearian and Goethean. But none
of the works occasioned by that American epic are
so permanently valuable as 1.9. 11}; 91 W
and cral .21 th .EQIEQ
collected by 8Henry Rowe Schoolcraft. This vol- -
ume is a reproduction of the Algig_Re§earghgg
with additions and revisions, and must always be
regarded as having a high place in our literature.
In this collection and in the poem Hiawatha, the
Indian tradition will be preserved and perpetup
ated. We shall never know much of the Indians.
Casper leads us all astray with his Adonis, Uncas.
' Hr. Schoolcraft knows more about them than anyone '
else, and their mythologic and allegoric traditions,
as he heard the? from themselves, he has given us
in this volume.

In another article in Putnam's Magazine the relationship of
Schoolcraft's writings to Longfellow's‘giazgthg, is shown:

The accentuation of the Indian syllable is so marked,
that they lend themselves to the metrical forms of
the Greeks more fitly than those of any living
Eurcpean tongue. Such hexameters, make a poet wish

to develop the musical wealth of the Indian languages.

 

d. Stith Thompson, ”The Indian Legend of Hiawatha" 2&54,
Vol. xxxvn, March, 1923, pp.189-37,

5. Xeiser, 213.3 m LI; American Literatggg, p.193.
6. Published by J. B. Lippincott, Philadelphia, 1856.

7. gutnamg‘ Monthly Magazine, Vol. VIII, July, 1858, pp.103~4.

130

A mine, too, almost unwrought, of legends and tra-
ditions, exists in the results of the researches that
have been made, but recently, into the history of the
tribes, and particularly by Mr. Schoolcraft.3

The article continues with the following:

Hr. Longfellow, who, as all his friends know, is a
most diligent worker and an assiduous student, has
ransacked the pages of Schoolcraft and weighed the
Indian words, and now after two years comparatively
barren, he comes to us again with a poem of three
hundred pages entitled the gong g£_Higwatha, And,
pray, who was Hiawatha? Hiawatha was the Manse
Capes, the Cadmus, the CecrOps. of the North Ameri-
can Indians. He was known among the tribes by vari-
ous names, of which Hiawatha was by far the most
agreeable.9

Schoolcraft was well pleased that Longfellow had used

his Magi; W as the raw material of W. On
December 19, 1855, he wrote to the poet:

Dear Sir: I have received the copy of giaggthg_with
which you have favored me, and have read the poem with
equal avidity and high gratification. One of the

great faults of authors; it appears to me, has been
the treating of the Indian as a stoic through every
scene, thus disconnecting him from human sympathies.
The Indian must be treated as he is. He is simple as

a child, yet with the dignity of a man in his wigwam.
There has been no attem t, my dear sir, before

W, to show this. 0 '
In addition to his private expression of approval to

Longfellow, Schoolcraft publicly commended him in an cpen letter
prefixed as a foreword to his In; mg of W, the revised

A

8. .Egjgggig,lgn§hlz M83§2;§§:WVO1. VI, pp.578-81.
90 Mo 0 Po 581-

10. Samuel Longfellow, 11.3% Mgggrialg g; m Wadsgggth
manna. Boston. 188 . p.45.

131

‘ m“--_.—_

Permit me to dedicate to you, this volume of Indian

myths and legends, derived from the story—telling

circle of the native wigwams. That they indicate the

possession of mental resources, by the Vesperic

tribes, of a very characteristic kind, furnishing,in

fact, a new point from which to judge the race, and

to excite intellectual sympathies, you have most

felicitously shown in your poem of W.“

From the evidence presented, the close relationship
of Longfellow's Hiawatha and Schoolcraft’s writings must
be clear. Regarlless_of the relative merits of the two writers,
their names will Elways‘be associated when the subject at hand
is Indian legends.12

Should you ask me, whence these stories

Whencs these legends and traditions?

I should answer, I should tell you:~

“From the forests and the prairies

From the great lakes of the Northland,

From the land of the OJibways.' 13

 

11. Dedicatory foreword to mm W, 1855

12. fl’figng W Vol. I, p.401 states: In the realm
0 poetry, Hiawatha becomes aone 3: Michigan' s honored

citizens. In M m._flnl%3

p. 167, is the statement that a drama 0 iawatha was
presented for several summers at Point Kensington near
Sault Ste. Marie by a grpup of Indians, some of whom
were descendants of Shinwaukance, who gave the story to
Schoolcraft. On one occasion the play was repeated for
the especial benefit of twelve members of the Longfellow
family who were summering in the north.

'13. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Mg 9; giawathg.

132

CHAPTER XI I I

CONCLUSION

The story of Schoolcraft's life after 1841, the year

he left Miohilimackinack1 and returned to the east, is quickly
told. His numerous and voluminous publications that have been
discussed in the previous chapters of this work indicate to

what use he made of his time. A few important incidents, how-

ever, merit further attention.

In 1846, the College of Geneva conferred upon School-

2
craft the degree of LL. D.

During the same year he received word from Sault Ste.
Marie that his brother James had been murdered by John Tanner.3
This happening takes on new meaning in view of the following
entry in Schoolcraft's.ggmgi;§:

$nly 3;, 153g. While at Sault St. Marie, John Tanner
allowed me one day unperceived into a canoe-house,
where I had gone alone. Lifting my eyes to meet his
glance, I perceived.mischief in their cold malicious,
bandit air, and, locking him determinedly 1n the eyes,
and instantly raising my heavy walking-cane, confront-
ed.him with the declaration of his secret purpose with
a degree of decision which caused him to step away and
leave the premises.4

 

. We 9-1563-
m-s 93111-
Ihig., p.601, footnote.

' m0 D p.601”

a» on 3° can.

133

Tanner's history is interesting:
He had been stolen by the Indians when a mere boy. He
grew into manhood and learned the arts of hunting from
the Indians on the Red river in the Hudson Bay region.
He came to Mackinack with traders in 1825. He could
not tolerate whites, but became U. S. interpreter at
Hackinaok. The elements of his mind were morose,
sour, suspicious, antisocial, revengeful, and bad.6
According to an early resident6 of Sault Ste. Marie,
Tanner killed James Schoolcraft for taking hmproper liberties
with one of his daughters. After the murder Tanner fled to
the woods and was never seen again.7 ‘

g In 1847, Henry Schoolcraft married Miss Mary Howard
of South Carolina. She was a very talented and a very well
educated woman.8 In later years, when, on account of a stroke
of paralysis, Schoolcraft became confined to a wheel chair,
she did practically all of his revising and copying for the
press.9 |

In view of the large apprOpriaticns of money that

Schoolcraft directed the spending of when he was compiling the
hiaim 9.1 its Indian mm. the following reports of what

 

 

5. Hessian; pp.515-16.

6. Ann Adam, 'Early days at Red River Settlement“ .gigngggtg
WW Vol VI. 9.114

?.Aske1eton near a gun, identified as Tanner's was found in
the woods many years later. Still later, however, an army
officer from Fort Brady confessed that he had killed.James
Schoolcraft for making advances to his wife and had then
killed and burned the body of John Tanner in order to pin
the murder of Schoolcraft upon Tanner.

8. mm. p.xlvii.
9. .Lhig.. p.xlvii.

134

transpired in the United States Senate on January 19, 1859,

are interesting:

Hr. Sebastian, “There is a bill for the relief of
Hrs. Henry R. Schoolcraft that has just passed the
House of Representatives now lying on the Secre-
tary' s table. I hcpe I shall be indulged by the
senate in taking up that bill and passing it now.
I ask tn!o unanimous consent of the Senate for that

purpose.

There was no objection and the bill passed without amend-

ment.

It provided the following:

The Secretary of the Interior shall issue a copy-
right tc Mrs. H. R. Schoolcraft, securing to her,
her heirs, assigns and legal representatives, the
exclusive right to republish the book entitled

maximum Winmsf. 1119.91.11?
States, heretofor publishe der the order 0

Congress.

The Secretary of the Interior shall also transfer

and deliver to her all the plates, the property of

the United States, used in the printing of this

book. This is to be accepted in full satisfaction

of all manner of claim for compensation for work,

time or money, expended in the collectioplof materials
for the book, by Henry Rowe Schoolcraft.

A week later the bill became official when as is recorded in

the fellowing:

The message from the House further announced that
the President of the United States had approved and
signed on the 35th instant the following acts and
Joint resolution: An act for the relief of Mrs.
Henry Rowe Schoolcraft.18

 

10.

11.
18.

angzessional Record Thirtyefifth Congress (1858-597,
p. 511.

m- 9 Po 511-
M. 9 Po 631-

 

135

Possessed of the necessary plates and manuscript,

Schoolcraft and his wife were able to publish as a private
venture,in 1860, an edition of the W 91 m w
my It proved to be Sohoolcraft's last publication.
Rapidly failing health during the next few years soon forced
him to stop writing. .

A - I‘—

13.
14,

He died in washingtonon December 10, 1864}4

Published by J. a. LippinoottpPhiladelphia.
M 3.91.! W (December 14, 1864) said:

* enry Rowe So 00 craft d ed at Washington on Saturday,

last, in his seventy-first year. Hr. Schoolcraft besides
being an active explorer and a diligent antiquary, had
devoted considerable attention to the more poetical as-
pects of aboriginal life. His ”Indian Legends“ are
charmingly written, and have furnished Longfellow with
the themes of several of his admired verse. By the death
of Mr. Schoolcraft, Merican literature has lost a shin-
ing light. "

APPENDIX 1
CHRONOLOGY OF SCHOOLCRAFT'S LIFE

1793

- Born March 28, Hamilton, Albany County, New York State.
1808

Formed a village literary society. Began writing poetry.

1809

Travelled to Utica. Had his first contact with Indians.
1810

Attended Union College.
1813

Supervised the construction of various glass works in New
England. Attended Hiddlebury College 'ex academia”.

1816
Began writing a work on vitreolgy.
1817
Travelled extensively through western New York.
1818 A
Journeyed down the Ohio. Explored the Missouri Osarks.
1818
mbltmodslmummsmunmm.
1820
Accompanied General Case on an expedition to Lake Superior.
1821

Published mm 9; Travel to 3.13.! Hggthwggg Region.
Explored the Wabash, DesPlaines, and Illinois rivers.

137

1832

Appointed Indian Agent for the Northwest frontier. Took
up residence at Sault Ste. flarie.

1825

Married.niss Jane Johnston of Sault Ste. Marie.
1824

Started to collect Indian legends. Became the father of a son.
1825

Visited New York and washington. Planned an Indian magasine.
Went with Case to Prairie de Chien. Published 122111.118. m

WWW.
1828

went to Fond Du Lac to negotiate a treaty with the Indians.
Wrote the gag gfiflgggggg, and several other essays.

182?
Published 3193 91 19.9. M. Travelled to Green Bay to sign
the treaty of Butte des morts. Suffered the loss of his son.
Became the father of.a daughter.

1828
Became a member of the nichigan Territorial legislature.
Organised the Historical Society of Michigan. Refused a
position with the United States South Seas Expedition.

1830

Delivered several lectures before the Historical Society of
nichigan. Published Ingiggflgglggigg, a group of poems.

1831

Travelled extensively in the regions southwest of Lake
Superior. Is threatened with death by John Tanner.

1832

Discovered Lake Itasca, the actual source of the Mississippi
river. Organised the Algic Society.

1833

Moved.from Sault Ste. Marie to Michilimackinack. Published
.Eaxraiizsust9a.§anediiisn.ia.2232.112229.

138

1834

Delivered an address before the Algic Society at Detroit.
Published the Han 9.1 Hansen. and 19.9.9.9. poems.

1835

Travelled to New York, Washington, and Philadelphia.‘ Con-
tinued contributing to various magazines.

1836
Acted as superintendent of Indian affairs at Detroit.
1837

Appointed as Regent of the University of Michigan. Elected
president of the Hichigan Historical Society.

1838
Prepared his collection of Indian legends for publication.
' 1339 '
Published M W.
1840
Returned to lichilimackinack.fras Detroit.
1841

Moved from Michilimackinack to New York City. Helped to
establish the American Ethnological Society. ’ ‘

1843

Journeyed to Europe. Death of wife cccured during his absence.
Travelled in Virginia, Ohio, and Canada.

1843

Published Mlle. 21'. 511.9. 19.14 9.1 W. a mass.
1848

Appointed as a historian of the Iroquois tribe.
1846

Published Elsa 19.: W 9.1 new 1111321231. and

12;; m 91 3.9M M. Awarded degree of LL. D. by
Geneva College.

1847

Published gm; 9;, 339, mu. Married Miss Mary Howard
of South Carolina.Was authorised by Congress to compile

a history of the American Indians. loved from New York to
Washington.

1848

Rods-nod th- 93:21: more as 1119. was is an linen.
Publish-d 29:11:19.9. 2.1 the 11.12 9.1 9mg. Sen-

1861 - ,
P03311811“ 8293.91.11 91 t lean *
.... new ... a: has... MW

1852
Published second volume of the W.

1854

Published third and fourth volumes of the 11281111. also a
new 0411103 0‘ in W 21 EB. m-

1855

Published the fifth volume of the W Re-issued the
11819. W 3' “10 am 91 mm.

1851
Published the sixth and last volume of the m.
1860

Published as a private venture an edition of the W
undar the title or 11mm 9.1 the Indian mm. . o

1864
Died December 10, in Washington, D. C.

140

APPENDIX II
GENERAL BIBLIOGRAPHY

Adam, Ann. “Early Days at River Settlement“, M n C
.giltggigg1,g%%lggjigg V01. VI. Brown Treaoy and 0.
St. Paul, 18 . . . ’

Allen, Lieutenant James. “Report of Schoolcraft's visit to
h

e Horthwest Indians in 1832', ggigggngtgggg We; QgEI,
W 59.- §3§n Washington, 1 4-

A11111011». 8. Austin. A 21131221 219.11.999.11 9.1 English Lit-
a mmmmmJ. B. uppin-
cott, Philadelphia, 1871.

' 21919211111 9.1 hairless 919ml. Appleton and 00..
New York, 1887-1900.

Baker, James 8. 'The sources of the Iississippi, their dis-
coverers, real and pretended”,
. V01.VI. Treacy and 00., St. Paul, 1 7.

Beach. '- 1'. 191199119. 1193111991. Albany. 1877.

Bl ir, E. 8. Indian Irihgg Uppg; n
a mmnfiggg m. A.28.’%Iark, New York, 91191

Bowen, F. 'Schoolcraft's History of the Indian Tribes“,
%3§§1ggn,§gzigg, Vol. LXXVII, pp.245-263. Boston, J y,

Brewer J. V. 'Biscoverers 0f the Mississippi“, gingglglgo
E1112§&§§1.§9%1121123. Vol. VII. Brown, Treacy and .,
St. P , 189 .
Cairns W. B. 91, W- W. Oxford Press
' ego. '

New York,

Case, Lewis. “Schoolcraft's Travels in the Central Mississ-

ippi Valley“ ggrth Aggriggg,figvigg, V01. XXVI pp. 367-64.
Boston, April, 828. '

Choates, Florence. 13:,Lgdian Faigz 8003. F. A. Stokes,
New York, 1918.

Cogswell, J. 0. 'Reviews of Schoolcraft'e Travels of 1821',
www. Vol. XV. 99.224.50. 30"”. July,

141

W; 91939,. Vol.xnv, Washington, 1851-52.

W 3.99.93.1- Vol. XXVII, Washington, 1858-59.

CoOper, Lane. “Travalere and Observers, 17331-183“, H
William 0 av
ork,1%l‘.5£%fl

“Death of Mr. Schoolcraft“, “any; mug g .3181: No. 109,
- p.83, April 15, 1865.

Dondon. D A 0 mgsuigmegd' sagskakias 91 519411 ensues.

Torch Press ,

mu, Samuel 6. mmnzinalhsusfimm
Hurst d 00., New York

mollusk. E. A. and G. L. Wfimw
£11311. Vol. I, Philadelphia, 80. _

Puller, George 8. 51.15.2119. Mm, national History Assoc-
iation Press, New York, 1924.

Hale, E. E. “Review of Hiawatha“, {gag W min,

V01.LXXXII, Boston, January, .
Harrower Henry D. mm mm: 19.8.!!- Ivison
Blakeman, Taylor a: 00., New York, 188 .

Hough alter. “Henry Rowe Schoolcraft“, W. 9.1.
EWW Scribner‘s, New or ,

Hunphreys, Capt. A. and Lieut. H. Abbot. 32991193593
Wm. Washington. 1375.

Keiser, Albert. 131W 1.3 Mega W. Oxford

Press, New York,

Longfellow, Samuel. Zggl 21 fl. )1. W.
Ticknor and 00., ton, 88 .

no Kenney, Thomas L. 3382121. 2.8411 13”.?“ m Earthen.
mm. Paine-Burgess, fiw York,

lie Laughlin, Andrew 0. m 9391,. Houghtonfilifflin and Co,
Hew York, 1891.

“Notice of Longfellow's Hiawatha“, m1; Engaging. Vol. VIII
pp. 103-4., July, 1858. '

Parkman, Francis. Conspiga 01 f Pontiac and the Indigg Lar.
Little, Brown and 00., Boston, 1851.

148

Rusk, R. L. 21.9. Litggasugg g; the It dd Westezg mm,
Columbia University Press, New ork, 1936.

“Sketch of Henry Rowe Schoolcraft“, W W W.
PP-113-Bl, Hay, 1890. ‘

Smith, Frank. “Schoolcraft, Bryant, and Poetic Fame“,
WW. Vol. V. palm-72. 1933-34.

Spin-i. Robert E. 3921:. 2.1. mm; Mn :3 1m.
Hacflillan, New ork, 1933.

Streeter, Floyd 8. “Henry Rowe Schoolcraft“, mm 99],];-
3.9.19.1. Vol. II, October, 1987.

Taliaform. MaJor L. “Autobiographr'. 2192129215 8111211911
mm. Vol. H, St. Paul, 1337.

Thompson, Stith. “The Indian Legend of Hiawatha“, -

329m Language. W. V01. xxxv . PP.
, larch, 1932.

Whiting, Henry. “Review of Sohoolcraft's A1 is Researches“
M mm mm. Vol. mx, 99.3 78. October. 1839.

Whiting,» Henry. “Review of Schoolcraft’s Notes of the

Iroquois Indians“ M 311111. Vol. LXI?
mesa-314, April: 51% .l , '

Wood,1§d;in 0. W W. Macmillan Ob. , New York,
1 . ’

APPEHDIX III
SCHOOLCRAFT' 8 WRIT IHGS

www.mmatnmmmm h min).
Waaoe ummwmnd n

volumes. Harper and Bros., New York, 1839.

1.111119111211121 £9.11 9.1T ade 31%;: 9.1 19.9. mm
Wiley and Putnam, New York, 1843.

mm; MM: 222511119111: 3932;919:231.
Rochester, 1851.

mm: 21 We; Min w ed i____iiaanf°ma Meat n 1112
21339.21 1112::

”U Mtg: s;a311.31r. volumes‘2§i%%§noott Phila
n -
Olphla, e e

“Civilisation and Conversion of the Indians“,
ggvieg. Vol. XXVIII, pp.354-68, April, 1889.

v 0 Sam Matthew-rise;
Soczgtz giggggag,‘1§§Q. G. L. Whitney, Detroit, 1830.

“Discourse upon the origin and character of the North

American Indians” W m M 919.19.13.11 9!.
W. 0.1.. Whitney, Detroit, 1834.

W 91 Albany 92395.1- Albany, New York, 1859.
mm}? 751, oVangfiofign,e New ork,1846. 2‘-

mfim WELD-1:: 01- Io1". 99.893-3lfi. Jar. £857.

“Incentives to the Study of the Ancient Period of American
History”. .1: 19.11 8111911221 mas. N" York. 1947

Indian 11124121: 3 m. New York. 1830.
12129.; 21 the Isle 21 Esme. New York. 1834.

Narrative g; an Exploration __;gggg the upper Mississippi, ,1_
ngggghgggg. Harper and Broe., New York, 1834.

111111111 11 1 1111 £113.11; 11111111 111 11.11.1111: 1111 £119.11
.11 1 111111111 0 .1411 m .111 .111. We a
11 15.1.5. 592 1812.19hillipe and Co., London, 1821.
m1 2:. W. J. B. Lippincott, Phi1adelphia, 1868.
W01 11 19, 119, c 9; 1133 MM
4mm! 111111111 11 111.111.11.111
1;; J. 1'3. Lippinoott, Philadelphia,1

“bagpfiumiammm 111). ; 15Flo-$0115.
ny

19.111911111111111. E. H. Pease a. 00., Albany, 1847.

11'. 11111111111111.1511. 1111 1:. 1111111
Wiley and Putnam, New York, 18%'4

Wé 9‘ g. %. Lippincott,
Philadelphia,

2111 11:. 111111111 1111111131111 W111. New York. 1846.
“Remarkable fceeil Tree or the River Dee Plainee“,

flfim $91.33“, Vol 17,1883 (reprinted separately
any £358 '

'Repcrt of the Aboriginal Names and Geographical terminology
(1,543” stats of In You” 111 1111 1111111111 1911111.

I'Repox't of the board of commiseionere aeeenbled at uichili-
nwklnwk 1836'm1li1111111 11 111111.1111111 9.11.111.
Washington, 1838.

“Review of '1'. L. Mokenney'e Tour of the Lakes“ mm W
m, Vol. XVI. PP. 234.50, October,l 17.88

mm 3.1.fipfifiom, PhiladeIphia, 1&3!“

“The Red Ian of Merica“, 193.111. W m,V01.LIV,
pp. 3,83-98 April,1848.

532529331139. 1 12218.11
19!. 1.1.91 thenmnetroit, 1830. 211.9. 8 an LA

11111111111111. Albany. 1819.

145

“Travellers among tho_Abor131noe' N Aggflgg 391;”;
Vol. xxvn, mas-114, July..18_gg'm2 . ' ‘

mgfizgmwnmwmm~
.mmmz gamma m. Utica., 1817.

mug.%kfiglg§m 9.; am. 0. Wiley and 00. .

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