CHAPTER X.

Proceed up the Mississippi River--Its velocity and character--Swan River--Trout River, and Mushkoda or Prairie River--Rapids ascended--Reach, and make a portage around Pakagama Falls--Enter a vast lacustrine region--Its character and productions, vegetable and animal--Tortuous channel--Vermilion and Deer Rivers--Leech Lake branch--Lake Winnipek--Ascent of the river to Upper Red Cedar, or Cass Lake--Physical character of the Mississippi River.

Our encampment was near the mouth of Swan River, a considerable stream, originating in Swan Lake, near the head of the St. Louis River of Lake Superior.

We had been pushing our way, daily, up to our arrival at Sandy Lake; but the word, from leaving that point, was, emphatically, push--and we can hardly be said to have taken proper time to eat or sleep. There was a shower of rain, during the night; it ceased at four o'clock, and we again embarked at five, in a cloudy and misty morning, and it continued cloudy all day. The current of the Mississippi continues to be strong; its velocity, during the ascent of this day, was computed by Capt. Douglass at two and a half miles per hour. We passed a rapid about six miles below Trout River, where there is a computed descent of three feet in a hundred and fifty yards. A few miles before reaching Trout River, we passed through a forest of dead pines, occupying ridges of sand, through which the river has cut its way. Four miles above the entrance of Trout River, we passed the mouth of a considerable stream, called by the Chippewas Mushkoda, or Prairie River, and encamped about five hundred yards above its mouth on a high sandy elevation. It was now eight o'clock P.M. We had ascended the river fifty-one miles, having been fifteen hours in our canoes, and we here first took our breakfast. This severity of fasting was, I think, quite unintentional, the mess-basket being in the other canoe, which kept ahead of us the entire day. We had this day observed specimens of the Unio and some other species of fresh-water shells along the shore. And of birds, besides the duck, plover, and loon, which frequent the water, we noticed the thrush, robin, blackbird, and crow. The comparative coolness of the day rendered the annoyance from mosquitos less severe than we had found them the preceding day. The night on this sandy and bleak elevation proved cool, with a heavy dew, which resulted in a dense fog in the morning. We found ice on the bottoms of the canoes, which are turned up at night, of the thickness of a knife-blade.

Our third day's ascent witnessed no diminution of the strength and alacrity with which our canoemen urged our way up the stream. We were off betimes, in a lowering and dense atmosphere, which obscured objects. After advancing some six miles, there are a series of small rapids, which are, taken together, called Ka-ka-bi-ka,[70] where I estimated the river to sink its level sixteen feet, in a short distance; at none of these is the navigation, however, impeded. The rock stratification appears too compact for sand-rock, and is obscured by contiguous boulders, which are indicative of the strong drift-formation, which has spread from the north and east over this region. Four miles after ascending the last of the Kakabika Rapids, we landed at the foot of the Pakagama Falls. Here the lading was immediately put ashore, the canoes landed, and the whole carried over an Indian portage path of two hundred and seventy-five yards. This delay afforded an opportunity to view the falls. The Mississippi, at this point, forces its way through a formation of quartzy rock, during which it sinks its level, as estimated, twenty feet, in a distance of about three hundred yards. There is no perceptible cascade or abrupt fall, but the river rushes with the utmost velocity down a highly inclined rocky bed towards the northeast. It forms a complete interruption to navigation, and must, hereafter, be the terminus of the navigation of that class of small steamboats which may be introduced above the Falls of St. Anthony. The general elevation of the geological stratum at the top of this fall must be but little under fourteen hundred feet above the Gulf of Mexico.[71] This summit bears a growth of the yellow pine. I observed, amongst the shrubs, the vaccinium dumosum. Immediately above the falls is a small rocky island, bearing a growth of spruce and cedars, being the first island noticed above Sandy Lake. This island parts the channel into two, at the precise point of its precipitation. On coming to the head of these falls, we appear to have reached a vast geological plateau, consisting of horizontal deposits of clay and drift on the nucleus of granitical and metamorphic rocks, which underlie the sources of the Mississippi River. The vast and irregular bodies of water called Leech Lake, Winnipek, and Cass Lakes, together with a thousand lesser lakes of a mile or two in circumference, lie on this great diluvial summit. These lakes spread east and west over a surface of not less than two hundred miles; most of them are connected with channels of communication forming a tortuous and intricate system of waters, only well known to the Indians; and there seems the less wonder that the absolute and most remote source of the Mississippi has so long remained a matter of doubt.

[70] From _ka_, a particle affirmative of an adverse quality, _aubik_, rock, and _ons_, a diminutive inflection.

[71] Mr. Nicollet places the summit of the falls at 1,340 feet above the Gulf.

By the time we had well seen the falls, and made some sketches and notes, the indefatigable canoemen announced our baggage all carried over the portage, and the canoes put into the water. Embarking, at this point, we found the river had lost its velocity; it was often difficult to determine that it had any current at all. We wound about, by a most tortuous channel, through savannas where coarse species of grass, flags, reeds, and wild rice struggled for the mastery. The whole country appeared to be one flat surface, where the sameness of the objects, the heat of the weather, and the excessively serpentine channel of the river, conspired to render the way tedious. The banks of the river were but just elevated above these illimitable fields of grass and aquatic plants. In these banks the gulls had their nests, and as they were disturbed they uttered deafening screams. Water-fowl were intruded upon at every turn, the blackbird and rail chattered over their clusters of reeds and cat-tails; the falcon screamed on high, as he quietly sailed above our heads, and the whole feathered creation appeared to be decidedly intruded on by our unwonted advance into the great watery plateau, to say nothing of the small and unimportant class of reptiles who inhabit the region.

Forty miles above the falls, the River Vermilion flows in through these savannas on the left hand; and three miles higher the Deer River is tributary on the right hand. We ascended six miles above the latter, and encamped in a dry prairie, on the same side, at a late hour. The men reported themselves to have travelled sixteen leagues, notwithstanding their detention on the Pakagama Portage. How far we had advanced, in a direct line, is very questionable. At one spot, we estimated ourselves to have passed, by the river's involutions, nine miles, but to have advanced directly but one mile. I noticed, on the meadow at this spot, a small and very delicious species of raspberry, the plant not rising higher than three or four inches. This species, of which I preserved both the roots and fruit, I referred to Dr. J. Torrey, of New York, who pronounced it the Rebus Nutkanus of Moçino--a species found by this observer in the Oregon regions. It is now known to occur eastwardly, to upper Michigan. As night approached on these elevated prairies, we observed for the first time the fire-fly.

The next morning (20th) we were again in motion at half-past five o'clock. It had rained during the night, and the morning was cloudy, with a dense fog. At the distance of ten miles, we passed the Leech Lake River. This is a very considerable river, bringing in, apparently, one-third as much water as the main branch. It is, however, but fifty miles in length, and is merely the outlet of the large lake bearing that name. It was thought the current of the Mississippi denoted greater velocity above this point, while the water exhibited greater clearness. We had still the same savanna regions, with a serpentine channel to encounter. Through this the men urged their way for a distance of thirty-five miles, when Winnipek Lake displayed itself before us. The waters of this lake have a whitish, slightly turbid aspect, after the prevalence of storms, which appears to reveal its shallowness, with a probably whitish clay bottom. The Chippewa name of Winnebeegogish[72] is, indeed, derivative from this circumstance. This lake is stated to be ten miles in its greatest length. We crossed it transversely in order to strike the inlet of the Mississippi, and encamped on the other side. In this transit we met a couple of Indian women in a canoe, who, being interrogated by the interpreter, stated that they came to observe whether the wild rice, which is quite an item of the Indian subsistence in this quarter, was matured enough to be tied into clusters for beating out. We estimated our advance this day, by the time denoted by the chronometer, at fifty-one miles.

[72] From _weenud_, dirty, _beegog_, waters, and _ish_, a derogative inflection of nouns.

We were again in our canoes the next morning at half-past four o'clock. In coasting along the north shores of Winnipek Lake, an object of limy whiteness attracted our attention, which turned out to be a small island composed of granitical and other boulders, which had served as the resting-place of birds, for which the region above the Pakagama Falls is so remarkable. On landing, a dead pelican was stretched on the surface. We had not before observed this species on the river, and named the island Shayta, from its Chippewa name. The buzzard, cormorant, brant, eagle, and raven had hitherto constituted the largest species. Along the shores of the river, the king-fisher and heron had been frequent objects. With respect to the cormorant, it was observed that the Indians classify it with the species of duck, their name for it, ka-ga-ge-sheeb, signifying, literally, crow-duck.

On again reaching the inlet of the Mississippi, its size and appearance corresponded so exactly to its character below the Winnipek, that it had evidently experienced but little or no change by passing through this lake. The same width and volume were observed which it had below this point; the same moderate velocity; the same borders of grassy savanna, and the same tendency to redouble its length, by its contortions, appeared. In some places, however, it approaches those extensive ridges of sandy formation, bearing pines, which traverse, or rather bound, these wide savannas. Through these channels the canoemen urged their course with their usual alacrity--now stopping a few moments to breathe, and then, striking their paddles again in the water with renewed vigor, and often starting off with one of their animated canoe-songs. From about eight o'clock in the morning till two in the afternoon we proceeded up the winding thread of this channel, when the appearance of a large body of water in the distance before us attracted attention. It was the first glimpse we had of the upper Red Cedar Lake. The Mississippi River here deploys itself in one of those large sheets of pellucid water which are so characteristic of its sources. On reaching the estuary at its entrance, a short halt was made. A large body of the most transparent water spread out before us. Its outlines, towards the south, were only bounded by the line of the horizon. In the distance appeared the traces of wooded islands. If Sandy Lake had, on emerging from the wilderness, impressed us with its rural beauty, this far transcended it in the variety and extent of outlines, and that oceanic amplitude of freshness, which so often inspires admiration in beholding the interior American lakes. It was determined to cross a part of the lake towards the north-east, in order to strike the site of an ancient Indian village at the mouth of Turtle River; and under the influences of a serene day, and one of their liveliest chants, the men pushed for that point, which was reached at three o'clock in the afternoon of the 21st July. The spot at which we landed was the verge of a green lawn, rising in a short distance to a handsome eminence, crowned with oaks and maples. One or two small log tenements stood on this slope occupied by two Canadians in the service of the American Fur Company. Several wigwams of bark and poles lifted their fragile conical forms on either side.

In one of these tenements, consisting of a small cabin of poles, sheathed with bark, we found an object of human misery which excited our sympathies. It was in the person of one of the Canadians, to whom reference has been made, of the name of Montruille. He had, in the often severe peregrinations of the fur trade in this quarter, been caught in a snow-storm during the last winter, and frozen both his feet in so severe a manner that they eventually sloughed off, and he could no longer stand upright or walk. He lay on the ground in a most pitiable state of dejection, with the stumps of his legs bound up with deer skins, with a gray, long-neglected beard, and an aspect of extreme despair. English he could not speak; and the French he uttered was but an abuse of the noble gift of language to call down denunciations on those who had deserted him, or left him thus to his fate. A rush mat lay under him. He had no covering. He was emaciated to the last degree, every bone in his body seemed visible through the skin. His cheeks were fallen in, and his eyes sunk in their sockets, but darting a look of despair. His Indian wife had deserted him. Food, of an inadequate quality, was occasionally thrown in to him. Such were the accounts we received. Governor Cass directed groceries, ammunition, and presents of clothing to be made to him, to the latter of which, every member of the party added. He also engaged a person to convey him to Sandy Lake.

We examined the environs of the place with interest; the village occupies the north banks of Turtle River Valley. Turtle River, which cuts its way through this slope and plain, constitutes the direct line of intercourse for the Indian trade, through Turtle and Red Lakes, to the Red River Valley of Hudson's Bay. On inquiry, we learned that this river had constituted the ancient Indian line of communication by canoes and portages, from time immemorial, with that valley, the distance to the extreme plateau, or summit, being about sixty miles. On this summit, within a couple of miles of each other, lie Turtle and Red Lakes, the one having its discharge into the Gulf of Mexico and the other into Hudson's Bay. When Canada was settled by the French, this aboriginal route was adopted. The fur companies of Great Britain, on coming into possession of the country, after the fall of Quebec, 1759, followed the same route. The factors of these companies told Lieutenant Pike, in 1806, at Sandy Lake and Leech Lake, that the Turtle portage was the only practicable route of communication to the Red River, and that it was the true source of the Mississippi; and they furnished him manuscript maps of the country conformable to these views. The region has actually been in possession of the Americans only since 1806, adopting the era of Pike's visit.

By inquiry from the Chippewa Indians at this village, sanctioned by the Canadian authorities, we are informed that the Mississippi falls into the south end of Cass Lake, at the distance of eight or ten miles; that it reaches that point from the west, by a series of sharp rapids stretching over an extent of about forty miles from a large lake;[73] and that this celebrated stream originates in Lac la Biche, about six days' journey from our present position, and has many small lakes, rapids, and falls. It is further asserted by the Indians, that the water in these remote streams, and upon these rapids, is at all times shallow, but it is particularly so this season; and that it is not practicable to reach these remote sources of the river with boats, or large canoes of the size we have.

[73] Called Andrúsia. Expedition to Starca Lake in 1837.

On submitting these facts to the gentlemen composing his party, Governor Cass asked each one to give his views, beginning with the youngest, and to express his opinion on the feasibility of further explorations. They concurred in opinion that, in the present low state of the water on these summits, considering the impossibility of ascending them with our present craft, and in the actual state of our provisions, such an attempt was impracticable. Thereon, he announced his decision to rejoin our party at Sandy Lake, and to pursue the exploration of the river down its channel to the Falls of St. Anthony, to the inlet of the Wisconsin and Fox Rivers, and to return into the great lake basins, and complete their circumnavigation.

Having reached the ultimate geographical point visited by the expedition, I thought it due to the energy and enlightened zeal of the gentleman who had led us, to mark the event by naming this body of water in my journal Cassina, or Cass Lake. There was the more reason for this in the nomenclature of the geography of the upper Mississippi, by observing that it embraces another Red Cedar Lake. The latitude of upper Red Cedar, or Cass Lake, is placed by Pike at 47° 42´40´´.[74] Its distance above Sandy Lake, by the involutions of the river, is two hundred and seventy miles, and from Fond du Lac, at the head of Lake Superior, by the travelled route, four hundred and thirty miles. It is situated seventeen degrees north of the Gulf of Mexico, from which it is computed to be distant two thousand nine hundred and seventy-eight geographical miles. Estimating the distance to the actual origin of the river, as determined at a subsequent period, at one hundred and eighty-two miles above Cass Lake, the length of the Mississippi River is shown to be three thousand one hundred and sixty miles,[75] making a direct line over the earth's surface of more than half the distance from the arctic circle to the equator. It may also be observed of the Mississippi, that its sources lie in a region of snows and long-continued winter, while it enters the ocean under the latitude of perpetual verdure; and at last, as if disdaining to terminate its career at the ordinary point of embouchure of other large rivers, has protruded its banks into the Gulf of Mexico, more than a hundred miles beyond any other part of the main. To have visited both the source and the mouth of the stream has fallen to the lot of but few, and I believe there is no person living beside myself of whom the remark can be made. On the tenth of July, 1819, I passed out of the mouth of the Mississippi in a brig bound for New York, after descending it in a steamboat from St. Louis, but little thinking I should soon visit its waters, yet, on the twenty-first of July of the following year, I reached its sources in this lake.

[74] Nicollet, in the report of his exploration of 1836, places it in 47° 25´ 23´´.

[75] _Vide_ Expedition to Stasca Lake in 1832.

In deciding upon the physical character of the Mississippi River, it may be advantageously considered under four natural divisions, as indicated by permanent differences in its geological and physical character--its vegetable productions, and its velocity and general hydrographical character. Originating in a region of lakes upon the table-lands which throw their waters north into Hudson's Bay, south into the Gulf of Mexico, and east into the Gulf of St. Lawrence, it pursues its course south to the Falls of Pakagama, a distance of two hundred and thirty miles, through natural meadows or savannas covered with wild rice, rushes, reeds and coarse grasses, and aquatic plants. During the distance, it is extremely devious in its course and width, often expanding into lakes which connect themselves through a vast system of reticulated channels. Leech Lake, Cass Lake, and Lake Andrúsia would themselves be regarded as small interior seas, were they on any other part of the continent but that which develops Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie, and Ontario. Its velocity through the upper plateau is but little, and it affords every facility for the breeding of water fowl and the small furred quadrupeds, the favorite reliance of a nomadic population.

At the Falls of Pakagama, the first rock stratum and the first wooded island is seen. Here the river has an aggregate fall of twenty feet, and from this point to St. Anthony's Falls, a distance of six hundred miles, it exhibits its second characteristic division. The granitical and metamorphic rocks, which support the vast plateaux and beds of draft of its sources, are only apparent above this point, in boulders. The permanent strata are but barely concealed at several rapids below the Pakagama, but appear plainly below the influx of the De Corbeau, at Elk River, Little Falls, and near Sac River. And this system of rock is succeeded, before reaching the Falls of St. Anthony, by the horizonal white sand rock and its superior limestone series of the carboniferous formation.

Vegetation is developed as the river descends towards the south. A forest of maples, elm, oak, ash, and birch, is interspersed with spruce, birch, poplar, and pine above the Pakagama, and continues, in favorable positions, throughout this division. The black walnut is first seen below Sandy Lake, and the sycamore below the River De Corbeau. The river in this division has numerous well-wooded islands; its velocity is a striking feature; it abounds with rapids, none of which, however, oppose serious obstacles to its navigation. Agreeably to memoranda kept,[76] it has fifty-six distinct rapids, including the Little and Big Falls, in all of which the river has an aggregate estimated descent of two hundred and twenty-four feet, within a distance of fourteen thousand six hundred and forty yards, or about eight miles. The mean fall of the current, exclusive of these rapids, may be computed at nearly six inches per mile.

[76] _Vide_ Appendix.

The course of the river, below the Falls of Pakagama, is still serpentine, but strikingly less so than above, and its bends are not so short and abrupt. The general course of this river, till it reaches the rock formation of Pakagama, is from the west. Thence, to Sandy Lake inlet, it flows generally southeast; from this point to the inlet of the De Corbeau or Crow Wing, it is deflected to the southwest; thence almost due south, to the mouth of the Watab River; and thence again southeast to the Falls of St. Anthony. A geographical line dropped from the inlet of Sandy Lake, where the channel is first deflected to the southwest, to St. Anthony's Falls, or the mouth of the St. Peter's,[77] forms a vast bow-shaped area of prairie and forest lands of high agricultural capabilities, whose future products must be carried to a market through the Fond du Lac of Lake Superior. These prairies and grove lands, which cannot square less than two by four hundred miles, constitute the ancient area of the Issati,[78] and are now the resort of great herds of the buffalo, elk, and deer; and it is a region known as the predatory border, or battle-ground of the Chippewas and Dacotas.

[77] Now called Minnesota River.

[78] _Vide_ Hennepin.