"Early in the morning, they attacked the Sioux in their camp, who, immediately sallying out upon them, forced them back to the last place of retreat they had resolved upon. They fought desperately. More than twice their own number were killed before they lost their lives. Eight of them were tomahawked in the holes to which they had retreated; the other four fell on the field! The THIRTEENTH returned home, according to the directions be had received, and related the foregoing circumstances to his tribe. They mourned their death; but, delighted with the bravery of their friends, unexampled in modern times, they were happy in their grief.
"This account I received of the very Indian who was of the party and had escaped."
The Sioux are much more numerous than the Chippewas, and would have overpowered them long since had the operations of the former been consentaneous. But they are divided into so many different bands, and are scattered over such an extensive country, that their efforts have no regular combination.
Believing it equally consistent with humanity and sound policy that these border contests should not be suffered to continue; satisfied that you would approve of any plan of pacification which might be adopted, and feeling that the Indians have a full portion of moral and physical evils, without adding to them the calamities of a war which had no definite object, and no probable termination; on our arrival at Sandy Lake, I proposed to the Chippewa chiefs that a deputation should accompany us to the mouth of the St. Peter's, with a view to establish a permanent peace between them and the Sioux. The Chippewas readily acceded to this proposition, and ten of their principal men descended the Mississippi with us.
The computed distance from Sandy Lake to the St. Peter's is six hundred miles, and, as I have already had the honor to inform you, a considerable proportion of the country has been the theatre of hostile enterprises. The Mississippi here traverses the immense plains which extend to the Missouri, and which present to the eye a spectacle at once interesting and fatiguing. Scarcely the slightest variation in the surface occurs, and they are entirely destitute of timber. In this debatable land, the game is very abundant; buffaloes, elks, and deer range unharmed, and unconscious of harm. The mutual hostilities of the Chippewas and Sioux render it dangerous for either, unless in strong parties, to visit this portion of the country. The consequence has been a great increase of all the animals whose flesh is used for food, or whose fur is valuable for market. We found herds of buffaloes quietly feeding upon the plains. There is little difficulty in approaching sufficiently near to kill them. With an eagerness which is natural to all hunters, and with an improvidence which always attends these excursions, the animal is frequently killed without any necessity, and no other part of them is preserved but the tongue.
There is something extremely novel and interesting in this pursuit. The immense plains, extending as far as the eye can reach, are spotted here and there with droves of buffaloes. The distance and the absence of known objects render it difficult to estimate the size or the number of these animals. The hunters approach cautiously, keeping to the leeward, lest the buffaloes, whose scent is very acute, should observe them. The moment a gun is fired, the buffaloes scatter and scour the field in every direction. Unwieldy as they appear, they move with considerable celerity. It is difficult to divert them from their course, and the attempt is always hazardous. One of our party barely escaped with his life from this act of temerity. The hunters, who are stationed upon different parts of the plain, fire as the animals pass them. The repeated discharge of guns in every direction, the shouts of those who are engaged in the pursuit, and the sight of the buffaloes at full speed on every side, give an animation to the scene which is rarely equalled.
The droves which we saw were comparatively small. Some of the party whom we found at St. Peter's, and who arrived at that place by land from the Council Bluffs, estimated one of the droves which they saw to contain two thousand buffaloes.
As we approached this part of the country, our Chippewa friends became cautious and observing. The flag of the United States was flying upon all our canoes, and, thanks to the character which our country acquired by the events of the last war, I found in our progress through the whole Indian country, after we had once left the great line of communication, that this flag was a passport which rendered our journey safe. We consequently felt assured that no wandering party of the Sioux would attack even their enemies, while under our protection. But the Chippewas could not appreciate the influence which the American flag would have upon other nations, nor is it probable that they estimated with much accuracy the motives which induced us to assume the character of an umpire.
The Chippewas landed occasionally to examine whether any of the Sioux had recently visited that quarter. In one of these excursions, a Chippewa found in a conspicuous place, a piece of birch bark, made flat by being fastened between two sticks at each end, and about eighteen inches long by fifteen broad. This bark contained the answer of the Sioux nation to the proposition which had been made by the Chippewas for the termination of hostilities. So sanguinary has been the contest between these tribes, that no personal communication could take place. Neither the sanctity of the office, nor the importance of the message, could protect the ambassadors of either party from the vengeance of each other. Some time preceding, the Chippewas, anxious for the restoration of peace, had sent a number of their young men into these plains with a similar piece of bark, upon which they had represented their desire. The bark had been left hanging to a tree in an exposed situation, and had been found and taken away by a party of the Sioux.
The propositions had been examined and discussed in the Sioux villages, and the bark which we found contained their answer. The Chippewa who had prepared the bark for his tribe was with us, and on our arrival at St. Peter's, finding it was lost, I requested him to make another. He did so, and produced what I have no doubt was a perfect fac-simile. We brought with us both of these projets, and they are now in the hands of Capt. Douglass. He will be able to give a more intelligible description of them than I can from recollection, and they could not be in the possession of one more competent to the task.