Part 4 (1/2)
Advancing boldly, with his calumet of peace fastened to the prow of his canoe, he was received in a friendlywhich he says the tent was nearly broken down by the crowd of savages, who, as a rule, had never seen a whitethese Indians Carver passed the winter, filling in his fiveand other Indian amusements From the Indians he learned that the St Lawrence, the Mississippi, and the Bourbon (the Red River of the North) had their sources within thirty miles of each other This led to the natural but erroneous opinion that Carver had reached the highest land of North America, when in reality he was at an elevation of only twelve hundred feet
Carver also spoke of ”the Oregon, or the River of the West,” as having its sources somewhat farther to the west This is the first tiives no account of its
[Illustration: A Calumet (From Carver's Book)]
The Indians had traditions as to the extre Mountains,” of which our explorer says, on the strength of Indian reports:
”The mountains that lie to the west of St Peter are called the shi+ning Mountains, fro size hich they are covered and which, when the sun shi+nes full upon thereat distance”
Carver's enthusias striking prediction, which time has fully justified He says:
”This extraordinary range of mountains is calculated to be th, without any very considerable intervals, which, I believe, surpasses anything of the kind in the other quarters of the globe Probably, in future ages, they may be found to contain more riches in their bowels than those of Hindostan and Malabar, or than are produced on the golden coast of Guinea, nor will I except even the Peruvian mines To the west of these hs, ht with all the necessaries or luxuries of life, and where future generations may find an asylues of lawless tyrants, or by religious persecutions, or reluctantly leaving it to re from a superabundant increase of inhabitants; whether, I say, ies, there is little doubt but their expectations will be fully gratified in these rich and unexhausted climes”
Carver described the valley of the Minnesota as awith all the necessities of life, which grow spontaneously Fruit, vegetables, and nuts were represented as being particularly abundant, and the sugar- numbers
In April, 1767, the Santees descended the Minnesota in order, as, to bury their dead near a remarkable cave on Lake Pepin, known to the Indians as the ”dwelling of the Great Spirit”
Finding that supplies had not been sent to the Falls of St Anthony, Carver returned to Prairie-du-Chien in order to get sufficient stores to enable him to reach Lake Superior, whence he hoped to be able to cross the continent fro such supplies, he proceeded up the Mississippi to the Chippeway River, and, after ascending to its head, es to the St Croix, and reached Lake Superior, possibly by the river non as the Bois Brule
From this point Carver, in his canoe, skirted the coast of Lake Superior to the Grand Portage, where he awaited the arrival of the Hudson Bay or northern traders, from whom he anxiously hoped to obtain supplies that would enable him to journey west; but he was destined to disappoint could be obtained from them Carver coasted around the north and east borders of Lake Superior, and arrived at the Falls of Ste
Marie the beginning of October, having skirted nearly twelve hundred miles of the shores of Lake Superior in a birch canoe
The Sault Ste Marie was then the resort of the Algonquin Indians, who frequented the falls on account of the great numbers of whitefish that filled the waters, particularly in the autumn, when that fish leaves the lakes in order to spawn in shallow running waters
In Nove, as he says, ”been sixteen months on this extensive tour, travelled nearly four thousandto the west and north His picture of Detroit on his return, in 1768, is of retrospective interest
”The town of Detroit contains upward of one hundred houses The streets are soe of very convenient and handsome barracks with a spacious parade at the south end On the west side lies the King's Garden, belonging to the Governor, which is very well laid out, and kept in good order The fortifications of the town consist of a strong stockade, round, and lined with palisades These are defended by some small bastions, on which are mounted a few indifferent cannon of an inconsiderable size, just sufficient for its defence against the Indians or an enearrison in time of peace consists of two hundred istrate under the Governor of Canada
”In the year 1762, in the month of July, it rained on this town and the parts adjacent a sulphurous water of the color and consistency of ink, so collected in bottles, and wrote with, appeared perfectly intelligible on the paper, and answered every purpose for that useful liquid Soon after, the Indian wars already spoken of broke out in these parts I mean not to say that this incident was o it is well known that innumerable well-attested instances of extraordinary pheno before extraordinary events, have been recorded in ale by historians of veracity; I only relate the circumstance as a fact, of which I was informed by many persons of undoubted probity, and leave my readers, as I have heretofore done, to draw their own conclusions from it”
It is beyond question that certain chapters of Carver's work, supplementary to his account of his personal explorations, and especially devoted to Indians and to the natural history of the Northwest, are practically translations of the accounts of Charlevoix, Hennepin, and particularly of Lahontan It does not appear from the first part of the work that Carver was a man endoith those powers of observation and assimilation which are essential traits for the successful traveller and author
When the brief recital of his personal travels is exarounds his truthfulness has been questioned by a few hostile critics His story is sihtforward, devoid of boastfulness, free froeration as to his personal prowess, and the statement that he passed a winter of five months in the valley of the Upper Minnesota is, in my opinion, worthy of entire credence
Fortunately, however, evidence of thecharacter exists as to Carver's residence araphy of the Siouan languages, by Mr Ja, indicates that Carver is the first author who ever published a vocabulary of the Santee tongue, and its length, eight pages, renders it evident that it was an original compilation which must have required considerable time and patience
[Illustration: Naudowessie Indians
Carver's drawing of ”A man and woman of the Naudowessie,” herewith reproduced, if somewhat fanciful in its details,in the main the costumes of the Santees when first visited by the whites]
The importance of Carver's charts and journals at that time was evident to the Lords Coland to who for reimbursement of his expenses
Carver appeared before the Board and, after an exaranted authority to publish his papers Later, after Carver had, as he says, disposed of them and they were nearly ready for the press, an order was issued fro hiinals of his charts, journals, and other papers relative to his discoveries
Meanwhile interest in the extension of English influence into the interior of North A conviction that the colonies would establish their independence, and the Govern Aradually to the greatest straits, was compelled to sell his book for a pittance, and finally, his end hastened by lack of proper food and suitable attendance, died in the direst poverty in London, January 13, 1780