Farnham's Travels in the Great Western Prairies, etc., May 21-October 16, 1839, part 1

58

By the "Great Gap" Farnham intends South Pass, for which see Wyeth's Oregon in our volume xxi, p. 58, note 37. – Ed.

59

For this obstruction, and the clearing of it, see our volume xvii, p. 70, note 64. – Ed.

60

For this river see Pattie's Personal Narrative in our volume xviii, p. 75, note 45. – Ed.

61

For a brief biography of Zebulon M. Pike, see our volume viii, p. 280, note 122. The journals of his expedition have been edited by Elliott Coues, Expeditions of Zebulon M. Pike (New York, 1895). – Ed.

62

Anahuac was a native Mexican word originally applied to the low coastal lands, but gradually transferred to the great central plateau of Mexico, with its mountainous ranges. Farnham considers the Rocky Mountain range south of South Pass an integral part of this Mexican system, as it was in his time under the Mexican government.

The Grand Saline branch of the Arkansas is probably intended for the Negracka, now called Salt Fork. See our volume xvi, p. 243, note 114. – Ed.

63

This estimate of population would seem to be fair. Compare Gregg's tables in our volume xx, pp. 317-341, notes 204-215, compiled from the report of the Indian commissioner in 1844. – Ed.

64

Ponca (Punca) Creek, which in 1837 formed the northern boundary of what was known as "Indian Territory." See our volume xxii, p. 291, note 253. – Ed.

65

This is a gratuitous remark. The conduct of the British Government will compare most favourably with that of the United States. The English have not thought of hunting Indians with blood-hounds. – English Ed.

66

See on this subject Gregg's Commerce of the Prairies, in our volume xx, p. 300, note 191. – Ed.

67

See our volume xx, pp. 308-315, with accompanying notes. – Ed.

68

This plan for a general federation of the tribes west of the Mississippi was popular in 1836-37. Rev. Isaac McCoy was appointed agent and detailed to approach the tribes with explanations. He chose the site for a central government as here described by Farnham. See 25 Cong., 2 sess., Senate Docs., i, pp. 579-584. The following year a change in the administration of the commissionership of Indian affairs brought about a reversal of policy. The difficulties were enlarged upon, and the reluctance of the more civilized tribes made an excuse for dropping the project. – Ed.

69

That is, the one hundredth meridian of west longitude. – Ed.

70

This constitution was adopted in 1838; later it was amended, and brought more into harmony with the Cherokee constitution, which was modelled upon that of Mississippi. The modified document provided for a single executive, called the principal chief, elected for two years, and ineligible for more than four years in six; two houses of legislature; courts of judiciary, etc. After the War of Secession this constitution was further amended, slavery being then abolished. In 1897 the Choctaw entered into the Atoka agreement with the commission to the Five Civilized Tribes, whereby the judicial functions of their tribal government have passed to the United States courts erected in the territory. Tribal government itself was to have ceased March 6, 1906; at that time, all lands being allotted, it was expected that the Choctaw became full-fledged American citizens. But owing to complications involved in settling the estates, an act of postponement was passed by Congress in the spring of that year, providing that "tribal existence and present tribal governments are continued in full force until otherwise provided by law." See article, "The End of the Civilized Tribes," in The Independent (New York, 1906), lx, pp. 1110, 1111. – Ed.

71

On the Chickasaw see our volume xx, p. 310, note 199. The Chickasaw were embraced in the Atoka agreement (see preceding note), and the allotment of their lands is about completed. As in succeeding paragraphs Farnham has here changed the sums originally indicated in American currency to their corresponding equivalents in English money. – Ed.

72

On the subject of education and the Choctaw Academy see our volume xx, p. 306, with accompanying notes. – Ed.

73

This is an accurate description of the present boundary of the Cherokee Nation, but "state of Kansas" should be read for "Osage lands." – Ed.

74

Compare a similar description by Gregg in our volume xx, p. 306. – Ed.

75

In 1856 the Creeks ceded part of the western portion of their strip to the Seminole; and again in 1866, both Creeks and Seminole ceded to the United States a portion of their western territory, which makes a large part of the present Oklahoma. The Creek western boundary is, therefore, a trifle east of 97°. – Ed.

76

The Creek confederacy was divided into two parts, known as Upper and Lower Creeks. The former were the chief aggressors in the Creek War of 1813, which was in fact largely a civil outbreak. General William McIntosh, halfbreed son of Roderick McIntosh, a Highland emigrant to West Florida, was an influential chief of the Lower Creeks and loyal to the Americans. He led the party favoring removal to Indian Territory, and signed the treaty of Indian Springs (1825) whereupon he was put to death by the band opposed to emigration. His sons Chilly and Rolly McIntosh became leaders of the emigration party and removed west of the Mississippi (1826-27). One of the chiefs of the Eastern band was Little Doctor, who volunteered to aid the United States in the Seminole War (1835-42). He came west with his band about 1836. It was not until 1867 that the two factions united under a written constitution and a republican form of government. – Ed.

77

The Seminole who made their home in Florida, were a branch of the Creeks. After the Creek War (1813-14) the majority of the hostiles made their way to the Seminole. When attempt was made to remove these tribesmen to Indian Territory (1832-34), they resisted sharply and finally war broke out which was prolonged until 1842. As various bands surrendered to the United States or were captured, they were sent out to the territory, so that by 1839 (the year of Farnham's journey) there were nineteen hundred Seminole among the Creeks. In 1856 they attempted autonomy, and with the consent of the United States bought 200,000 acres of Creek land; two years later the remainder of the band from Florida, under their chief Bowlegs, came out and joined their tribe. In 1881-82 they added 175,000 acres to their tract. – Ed.

78

The majority of the Seneca refused to leave New York State – see our volume viii, p. 183, note 41; and volume xxiv, p. 163, note 176. The mixed bands in Kansas were removed to Indian Territory in 1867, and located on the Quapaw Agency. They are now citizens, having lands allotted in severalty (about 1889) in the north-eastern part of Indian Territory. – Ed.

79

On the Osage see our volume v, p. 50, note 22. Their Kansas lands having become very valuable, in 1865 they made a treaty ceding them to the United States, and removed to Indian Territory. Their reservation is now in north-east Oklahoma. They are the richest tribe in the United States, and for that reason somewhat unprogressive. – Ed.

80

For the Quapaw see our volume xiii, p. 117, note 84. – Ed.

81

For the early history of the Potawatomi see our volume i, p. 115, note 84; xxvii, p. 153, note 23 (De Smet). In 1837 a large tract was marked out for this tribe in south-west Miami County, Kansas, where they settled for ten years, and made improvements, but they were again removed (1847) to a reservation in north-east Kansas, where in 1850 they were joined by a large accession from Michigan. In 1861 a part of their lands was allotted, and a reservation in Jackson County secured, whereon about six hundred still live. The Mission band removed to Indian Territory, and are now over sixteen hundred in number, citizens of Oklahoma. A few of the tribe yet remain in Michigan. – Ed.

82

For the early history of the Piankeshaw and Wea (Ouiatanon) Indians see Croghan's Journals in our volume i, pp. 117, 142, notes 85 and 115 respectively. They ceded their Indiana lands by 1818, and removed first to the vicinity of Ste. Geneviève, Missouri, until in 1832 they emigrated to the present Miami County, Kansas. In 1854 the greater part of their reservation was ceded to the United States, and in 1867 they removed to the Quapaw Reserve, where a remnant still live on allotted lands.

The Peoria and Kaskaskia were Illinois, not Miami bands – see our volume xxvi, pp. 97, 106, notes 63 and 71 respectively. When they removed from Illinois (1818) they confederated with the Piankeshaw and Wea, with whom they have since been associated. In 1904 their population was reported as about two hundred. – Ed.

83

For the early habitat of the Ottawa see our volume i, p. 76, note 37. The band that removed west were a part of the Detroit Ottawa who had lived on Maumee River, Ohio, contiguous with the Miami and Potawatomi. By a treaty of 1831 they agreed to remove to the Kansas region, and emigration thither was completed about 1836. Their reservation grew valuable and in 1867 the Ottawa made a treaty with the federal government whereby in five years their lands were to be allotted, and the residue sold. Finding their position uncomfortable, they petitioned for a reservation and the remnant of the tribe removed to that of the Quapaw, in Indian Territory, where about two hundred now live on recently allotted lands. There is no evidence that any considerable number of Michigan Ottawa ever migrated to Kansas. – Ed.

84

For the early history of the Shawnee see our volume i, p. 23, note 13. In 1793 one portion of this tribe emigrated, together with a band of Delaware, to the west of the Mississippi, where they dwelt on a Spanish grant near Cape Girardeau. In 1825 they relinquished this grant for the Kansas reservation described by Farnham, where they were joined (1832-33) by the remainder of the tribe from Ohio. In 1854 they ceded their lands to the federal government, save a reservation of 200,000 acres, where they established a form of government and made a body of laws. In 1869 about the half of the tribe bought lands of the Cherokee, and became incorporated with the latter tribe. A small band known as Eastern Shawnee are on the Quapaw reservation, while the remainder have been allotted lands in Oklahoma, near the town of Shawnee. Methodists, Baptists, and Friends all established missions for the Shawnee – see our volume xxvii, p. 194, note 72 (De Smet), for the first-named denomination. The Baptist mission, begun in 1831, had a printing press (1834) whereupon Rev. Jotham Meeker printed several books after a phonographic system that he had adapted to their language. – Ed.

85

For the early history of the Delaware see our volume xxii, p. 96, note 37. Before the Louisiana Purchase (1803) several bands had gone west of the Mississippi. In 1818 they ceded all their lands in the East, and migrated to Missouri, where they lived upon James Fork of White River, near the present Springfield. In 1829 they were given a large cession between the Kansas and Missouri rivers, which they possessed until 1854. After the treaty of cession in that year, they preserved a considerable reservation, which was sold (1866) to the Union Pacific Railway Company, whereupon they bought land of the Cherokee, and became incorporated into the latter tribe, although in certain relations maintaining autonomy. The band that removed farther west (1829) are still among the Wichita, at Kiowa Agency. At the close of Wayne's campaign (1794-95), a considerable portion of the tribe removed to Canada, in company with the Moravian missionaries. – Ed.

86

See descriptions of the Kansa villages in our volume xxi, pp. 48, 49, 145-148. – Ed.

87

See our volume xiv, pp. 188-209, also the cut of the interior of a Kansa lodge, p. 208. – Ed.

88

The Missouri Methodists maintained a mission among the Kansa for several years succeeding 1830. The tribe became, however, much addicted to intemperance, and is now reduced to somewhat under two hundred. They are, however, wealthy, their allotment being 406 acres of land per capita, besides interest from their fund. – Ed.

89

For Cantonment or Fort Leavenworth see our volume xxii, p. 253, note 204. – Ed.

90

The early history of the Kickapoo is sketched in our volume i, p. 139, note 111. By the treaty of 1819 they ceded all their lands east of the Mississippi for a tract in Missouri, south of the Osage River, which in turn was exchanged (1832) for the tract described by Farnham; see our volume xxii, p. 254, note 206. This was ceded in 1854, save a reservation of a hundred and fifty thousand acres in Brown County, Kansas. The Kickapoo have always been wanderers; about 1832 a large band emigrated to Texas, later to Mexico, and have since been known as Mexican Kickapoo. About half of these were brought back, their descendants now living in Oklahoma, near the Shawnee. – Ed.

91

For the early history of the Sauk and Foxes, see our volume ii, p. 185, note 85; or more particularly, Wisconsin Historical Collections, xvi, xvii. About the beginning of the nineteenth century they were located on both banks of the Mississippi, from the mouth of the Wisconsin down to the mouth of the Missouri. By the treaty of 1804 a large amount of land was ceded to the United States, but the cession was repudiated by many of the tribe; during the War of 1812-15, these protestants were among the hostiles. Treaties of peace (1815 and 1816) were concluded with the two divisions of the tribe – the Missouri and Rock River bands respectively. By the treaties of 1824, 1830, and 1836, the former relinquished all their Missouri territory for a reservation in Kansas and Nebraska, north of the Kickapoo; see Townsend's Narrative in our volume xxi, p. 122, note 2. This was largely reduced by the treaty of 1861; so that there is now but a small reservation in northern Brown County, Kansas, where about eighty of the Missouri band still live and maintain a day school. The Rock River band divided into two factions, under Keokuk and Black Hawk. The latter waged war with the United States in 1832 (see Thwaites, "Black Hawk War," in How George Rogers Clark won the North-west, pp. 115-198), after which a large cession of lands was made. These the tribesmen attempted to recover (1836), but by 1842 they had ceded all their Iowa lands. Migration had already begun (1840) to Kansas, where they settled upon Marais des Cygnes, in Osage County, the last Foxes removing thither in 1847. Here the confederacy between the allied tribes, after existing for over a hundred years, began to dissolve. The Sauk largely removed to Indian Territory, and in 1904 four hundred and ninety-one were dwelling upon allotted lands in Oklahoma. The Foxes had begun in 1853 to return to Iowa in small bands. Ingratiating themselves with the settlers, they purchased lands on Iowa River, in Tama County; but not until 1867 did the federal government recognize these as their legal residence. There are now about three hundred and fifty in this locality, somewhat progressive – owning wagons, sewing-machines, typewriters, etc. – but still clinging to traditional customs, probably the most conservative of all tribesmen who have been so long in contact with the whites. See "Last of the Musquakes," in Iowa Historical Record, xvii, pp. 307-320. – Ed.

92

For Black Hawk and the uprising of his band see Townsend's Narrative in our volume xxi, p. 123, note 3; also Maximilian's Travels in our volume xxii, pp. 217, 225, 228, with notes 127, 147, 151. – Ed.

93

For the Iowa see Brackenridge's Journal in our volume vi, p. 51, note 13. They were closely associated with the Sauk and Foxes, and in 1836 ceded all their Iowa lands and removed to Kansas, where their reservation adjoined that of the former. In 1854 and 1861 they ceded most of their new reservation, a small band removing to Oklahoma with the Sauk, the majority still residing in Doniphan County, Kansas, where two hundred and twenty were reported in 1904. They have a large preponderance of white blood, and now desire full citizenship. – Ed.

94

See on the Oto, our volume v, p. 74, note 42. This tribe several times changed their village site. First upon the Platte, in the time of Lewis and Clark (1804), they removed to the site of Omaha, whence they had before 1819 returned to the Platte. They finally settled on the site of Nebraska City, where they remained until 1854, when they retired to their reservation on the south-eastern border of Nebraska. Thence they migrated to Indian Territory. Their reservation there was abolished in 1904, and made part of Pawnee and Noble counties, Oklahoma, wherein the Oto now dwell on their allotments. They have a good Indian school, and are reported bright and intelligent. – Ed.

95

See our volume v, p. 56, note 26, for the site of this village. – Ed.

96

For the Omaha see our volume v, p. 86, note 49. Recent reports show that the trust period will soon be ended, when they will become full-fledged citizens. The system of leasing lands has been somewhat demoralizing, enabling them while idle to live in comfort. – Ed.

97

For the Ponca see our volume v, p. 96, note 63. Their migrations have been carefully traced by J. O. Dorsey, "Omaha Sociology," in U. S. Bureau of Ethnology Report, 1881-82, pp. 211-213. He does not find that they advanced as far as the Red River of the North – Pipestone, Minnesota, was the northern limit of their wanderings. On their Nebraska history and their harrying by the Sioux, see J. A. Barnett, "Poncas," in Nebraska Historical Society Proceedings and Collections, 2nd series, ii, pp. 11-25. – Ed.

98

For the Pawnee see our volumes vi, p. 61, note 17; and xiv, p. 233, note 179. A visit to their villages is related in our volume xv, pp. 143-165. The treaty here described was drawn up at the Pawnee village in 1833 by Commissioner Henry L. Ellsworth, the payments being in return for a cession of all their claims south of the Platte. See also De Smet's Letters in our volume xxvii, pp. 207, 208, 210, notes 81-83. – Ed.

99

The Karankawa (Carancahua) were a tribe of Texan Indians whose habitat was the bays and river-openings of the coast south and west from Galveston. They were first known to Europeans through contact with La Salle's colonists, whose remnant they captured. In the eighteenth century the Spanish attempted several missions to this people, but without much success; their contact with whites appeared to have made them more sanguinary and ferocious, and increased their tendencies to cannibalism. Bad treatment by Lafitte's pirate colony made them hostile to the Austin settlers, who in 1825 rallied and inflicted upon them a severe defeat. They made part of the Mexican army in the attack on the Alamo, and after the conclusion of the war kept peace with the Texans through fear of the latter's revenge. Successive hostilities, however, weakened their strength and numbers, and after 1836 the few survivors took refuge in Mexico. There a remnant existed for some years, an attack upon them by some rancheros of Texas, in revenge for robbery, being noted as late as 1858. The tribe is now extinct, but a vocabulary and a knowledge of their manners and customs have been preserved. Consult Peabody Museum of American Archæology and Ethnology, Harvard University, Papers (Cambridge, 1891), i, no. 2. – Ed.

100

For the Comanche see our volume xvi, p. 233, note 109; also xviii, pp. 65-71; and xx, pp. 342-352. These "Arabs of the Plains" were first met by Louisiana colonists in 1699. They had already adopted the horse, and become skillful riders. On the borders of Mexican and American settlements, they alternately made depredations upon each, as suited their purposes. The frontiers of Texas were long harried by their raiding parties. It was not until 1875 that the last hostile band surrendered, and was settled on the Wichita reservation in Oklahoma, where they are still watched by troops stationed at Fort Sill. They are, however, becoming sedentary, most of their land now being allotted. – Ed.

101

For the Knistineaux (Cree) Indians see our volume ii, p. 168, note 75. Mackenzie is sketched in Franchère's Narrative, our volume vi, p. 185, note 4. – Ed.

102

Farnham here quotes from Z. M. Pike, Account of Expeditions to the Sources of the Mississippi River and through the Western Parts of Louisiana (Baltimore, 1810). See Coues's edition (New York, 1895), pp. 348-350. Our author has not noted the more detailed boundary arranged by the treaty (1825) at Prairie du Chien, under the supervision of William Clark and Lewis Cass, with Sioux, Chippewa, Sauk and Foxes, Iowa, etc.; this stood for years as the standard limit for the Sioux tribe.

Rivière de Corbeau was the present Crow Wing River, in upper Minnesota. Rising in Hubbard County, flowing through Wadena, and forming the boundary between Cass, Todd, and Morrison counties, it enters the Mississippi opposite the town of Crow Wing. By means of this river, there was reached a famous portage to Red River of the North; its affluent Leaf River was followed to a carrying trail leading over to Otter Tail Lake, one of the sources of the Red.

For the St. Peter's see our volume xxii, p. 342, note 315. – Ed.

103

Rum River was so designated by Carver in 1767, and is the river which Father Louis Hennepin nearly a hundred years earlier designated River St. Francis. It is the outlet of Mille Lacs, flows south and south-east, and unites with the Mississippi at Anoka. – Ed.

104

Farnham's classification of the Dakota bands is quite correct; see our volume xxii, pp. 278, 305, 326, notes 235, 263, 287. He follows Pike in his spelling of several of the tribal names, and Lewis and Clark in naming the Teton bands.

For the location of the Arikara villages see our volume v, p. 127, note 83. – Ed.

105

For wild rice, called by the French folle avoine (Latin equivalent, avena fatua) see Franchère's Narrative, our volume vi, p. 384, note 205, and reference therein cited. – Ed.

106

For Jonathan Carver see J. Long's Voyages, in our volume ii, p. 30, note 5. Recent investigation throws much doubt upon the authenticity of Carver's work, although it is probable that he made the journey up St. Peter's River; see Wisconsin Historical Society, Bulletin of Information, no. 24 (January, 1905); also American Historical Review, xi, pp. 287-302. – Ed.

107

For the Assiniboin, and their revolt from the Sioux, see Maximilian's Travels, in our volume xxii, p. 370, note 346. – Ed.

108

The Chippewayan and Chippewa belong to two distinct Indian families. The former are of Athabascan (or Tinneh) stock, and range from Hudson Bay to the Pacific, and from the Saskatchewan to the Arctic. The Chippewa (Ojibwa, Saulteurs, see our volume ii, p. 79, note 38) are the largest and most important branch of the Algonquian family, first being encountered by the French at the outlet of Lake Superior. According to tradition, their original habitat was the St. Lawrence, whence they passed slowly westward to the Great Lakes. At Lake Superior they divided, one portion going north and west to Lake Winnipeg, the other following the southern shore of the lake. For many years their chief settlement was at La Pointe on Chequamegon Bay. As allies of the French they joined in the French and Indian War and in Pontiac's Conspiracy – see J. Bain (ed.), Alexander Henry's Travels (Boston, 1901), pp. 79-106. They also aided the English in the American Revolution and the War of 1812-15. In the eighteenth century they drove the Sioux from the upper waters of the Mississippi, and the band known as Pillagers established themselves on Leach Lake. For the boundary between them and the Sioux see ante, p. 152, note 98. See Minnesota Historical Collections, v, for complete history of this tribe. In Michigan, Wisconsin, and Minnesota, there are still about twenty thousand of these people, besides a large number in Canada. – Ed.