Villages of the Algonquian, Siouan, and Caddoan Tribes West of the Mississippi

by David I. Bushnell

"KAPOSIA, JUNE 19TH, 1851" F. B. Mayer

According to the stories of the old Ojibway who were still living on the shore of Mille Lac during the spring of 1900, the Mdewakanton were driven from that region about the middle of the eighteenth century, and moving southward settled along the banks of the Mississippi. Descendants of these were occupying well-known villages on the Mississippi and Minnesota during the summer of 1823, when Major Long and his party ascended the rivers from Prairie du Chien.

Before leaving Prairie du Chien to discover the course of the Minnesota, or St. Peters, as it was then designated, the members of the expedition were divided into two groups, one to go overland to the mouth of the St. Peters, the other to convey the supplies by boat to that point. Both parties visited the principal villages on the way. First following the route of those who went overland, on June 26, 1823, they encountered a village of five lodges, evidently on the Iowa River, in the present Winneshiek County, Iowa. Two days later, June 28, they arrived at the more important village of Wapasha, in the present Wabasha County, Minnesota, and as told in the narrative: "Whatever might be the reveries in which the party were indulging, they were soon recalled to the dull realities of travelling, by the howling and barking of a band of dogs, that announced their approach to an Indian village consisting of twenty fixed lodges and cabins. It is controlled by Wa-pa-sha, an Indian chief of considerable distinction. In his language, (Dacota,) his name signifies the red leaf. A number of young men fantastically decorated with many and variously coloured feathers, and their faces as oddly painted, advanced to greet the party. One of them, the son of the chief, was remarkable for the gaudiness and display of his dress, which from its showy appearance imparted to his character foppishness.... The chief is about fifty years of age, but appears older.... His disposition to the Americans has generally been a friendly one." (Keating, (1), I, pp. 249-250.) Hennepin's reception by the ancestors of the same people, in their ancient village near Mille Lac, about a century and a half earlier, may have been quite similar to this accorded the members of the Long expedition in 1823.

On the evening of June 30 the party going by land arrived "at an Indian village, which is under the direction of Shakea, (the man that paints himself red;) the village has retained the appellation of Redwing, (aile rouge,) by which the chief was formerly distinguished." This was on the site of the present Red Wing, Goodhue County, Minnesota. There the party remained overnight, and on the following morning, July 1, 1823, the boat bearing the supplies belonging to the expedition, on its way from Prairie du Chien to Fort St. Anthony, reached the village, and "The whole party being again united, the chief invited them to his lodge, with a view to have a formal conversation with them.... As a compliment to the party, the United States' flag was hoisted over his cabin, and a deputation of some of his warriors waited at our encampment to invite us to his lodge. We were received in due ceremony; the chief and his son, Tatunkamane, (the walking buffalo,) were seated next to the entrance. We took our stations near them, on the same bed-frame, while his warriors seated themselves on the frame opposite to us." This was followed by handshaking, and the smoking of the pipe of peace. (Op. cit., pp. 251-252.) The two parties again separated and those passing overland arrived at the fort the following evening.

The boat party, ascending the Mississippi, arrived at "Wapasha's village" on June 29, soon after the departure of the others who were going overland. They left Redwing early in the afternoon of July 1, and on the following day passed the St. Croix. Continuing, they "passed an Indian village consisting of ten or twelve huts, situated at a handsome turn on the river, about ten miles below the mouth of the St. Peter; the village is generally known by the name of the Petit Corbeau, or Little Raven, which was the appellation of the father and grandfather of the present chief.... As the village was abandoned for the season, we proceeded without stopping. The houses which we saw here were differently constructed from those which we had previously observed. They are formed by upright flattened posts, implanted in the ground, without any interval except here and there some small loopholes for defence; these posts support the roof, which presents a surface of bark. Before and behind each hut, there is a scaffold used for the purpose of drying maize, pumpkins, &c." Late in the same day they arrived at the fort. (Keating, (1), I, pp. 288-289.) Whether the method of constructing lodges by forming the walls of upright posts or logs was of native conception or was derived from the French is now difficult to determine. In referring to the customs prevailing in the Mississippi Valley, particularly the French portions, about the year 1810, Brackenridge said: "In building their houses, the logs, instead of being laid horizontally, as ours, are placed in a perpendicular position, the interstices closed with earth or stone, as with us." (Brackenridge, (1), p. 119.) The old courthouse at St. Louis was built after this method. Again, among some tribes along the eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains, as will be told on another page, were to have been found small, well-protected lodges formed of upright poles, and in this instance there is no reason to suspect European influence. Therefore it is not possible to say definitely whether the structures standing on the banks of the Mississippi during the summer of 1823 were of a primitive, native form, or if they represented the influence of the early French who had penetrated the region many years before.

Just three years before the Long expedition passed up the Mississippi and prepared the preceding descriptions of the Sioux settlements Schoolcraft went down the river, and in his journal are to be found brief references to the same villages. To quote from the journal, August 2, 1820: "Four miles below Carver's cave, we landed at the village of Le Petit Corbeau, or the Little Raven. Here is a Sioux band of twelve lodges, and consisting of about two hundred souls, who plant corn upon the adjoining plain, and cultivate the cucumber, and pumpkin. They sallied from their lodges on seeing us approach, and gathering upon the bank of the river fired a kind of feu-de-joie, and manifested the utmost satisfaction on our landing.... We were conducted into his cabin which is spacious, being about sixty feet in length by thirty in width—built in a permanent manner of logs, and covered with bark." (Schoolcraft, (2), pp. 317-318.) The following day at noon the party arrived "at the Sioux village of Talangamane, or the Red wing, which is handsomely situated on the west banks of the river, six miles above Lake Pepin. It consists of four large, and several small lodges, built of logs in the manner of the little Raven's village. Talangamane is now considered the first chief of his nation.... Very few of his people were at home, being engaged in hunting or fishing. We observed several fine corn fields near the village, but they subsist chiefly by taking sturgeon in the neighbouring lake, and by hunting the deer. The buffalo is also occasionally killed, but they are obliged to go two days journey west of the Mississippi, before this animal is found in plenty. We observed several buffalo skins which were undergoing the Indian process of tanning." (Op. cit., p. 323.) The third settlement was reached during the afternoon of August 4, 1820, at which time, to quote from the journal, "we made a short halt at the Sioux village of Wabashaw, which is eligibly situated on the west bank of the Mississippi, sixty miles below Lake Pepin. It consists of four large lodges, with a population of, probably, sixty souls. A present of tobacco and whiskey was given, and we again embarked at twenty minutes before five o'clock." (Op, cit., p. 334.) The question now arises, Were the various structures seen by Schoolcraft, those "built in a permanent manner of logs," constructed of "upright flattened posts," as mentioned in the Long narrative? If so, it is evident similar habitations were reared by the Foxes and were encountered by Schoolcraft at the Fox village standing on the left bank of the Mississippi, below the mouth of the Wisconsin, August 6, 1820. However, the statements are rather vague, and the various dwellings may have been quite similar to the bark houses more clearly described in later narratives. But it is beyond question that some of the structures were strongly built, and Long on July 16, 1817, wrote: "Passed a Sioux village on our right containing fourteen cabins. The name of the chief is the Petit Corbeau, or Little Raven.... One of their cabins is furnished with loop holes, and is situated so near the water that the opposite side of the river is within musket-shot range from the building.... The cabins are a kind of stockade buildings, and of a better appearance than any Indian dwellings I have before met with." (Long, (1), p. 31.)

One of the most interesting accounts of the villages just mentioned is contained in the journal of a traveler who visited them in 1849, the year the Territory of Minnesota was created. On May 16 of that year he "passed Wapasha's Prairie ... a beautiful prairie in Minnesota, about nine miles long and three miles wide, occupied by the chief Wapasha (or Red-Leaf) and his band of Sioux, whose bark lodges are seen at the upper end of the prairie." (Seymour, (1), p. 75.) And later in the day, after leaving Lake Pepin, "an Indian village, called Red Wing, inhabited by a tribe of Sioux is seen on the Minnesota shore. It appears to contain about one dozen bark lodges, and half as many conical lodges, covered with buffalo skins; also, a log or frame house, occupied by a missionary. Indian children were seen running, in frolicsome mood, over the green prairie, and Indian females were paddling their canoes along the shore. This village is near the mouth of Cannon River." On the following day, May 17, 1849, Seymour passed the village of Kaposia, occupied by the chief Little Crow, or Little Raven. It stood on the west bank of the river about 5 miles below the then small town of St. Paul. The Indian village at that time consisted of about 40 lodges, having a population of some 300. A few days later he went to the village, and regarding the visit wrote: "During the time I visited them, the Indians were living in skin lodges, such as they use during the winter, and when traveling. These are formed of long, slender poles, stuck in the ground, in a circle of about eight feet in diameter, and united at the top, and covered with the raw hide of the buffalo, having the hair scraped off. They are in the form of a cone, and can be distinguished from those of the Winnebagos and other Indians as far as they can be seen. During the summer they live in bark houses, which are more spacious, and when seen from a distance, resemble, in form and appearance, the log cabins of the whites. When passing in sight of the village, a few days afterward, I noticed that they had removed their skin lodges, and erected their bark houses. The population of this village, as I before remarked, is from 250 to 300 souls." He entered one of the small skin-covered lodges. "An iron kettle, suspended in the center, over a fire, forms the principal cooking utensil. Blankets spread around on the ground, were used as seats and beds." (Op. cit., pp. 137-138.) A cemetery, with its scaffold burials, stood on the bluffs in the rear of the village. There is reason to believe these were the first skin-covered tipis encountered by Seymour while ascending the Mississippi.

BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY BULLETIN 77 PLATE 22