A little before I met with these three bands I fell in with a party of the Mawtawbauntowahs, amounting to forty warriors and their families. With these I resided a day or two, during which time five or six of their number, who had been out on an excursion, returned in great haste, and acquainted their companions that a large party of the Chipéway warriors, “enough,” as they expressed themselves, “to swallow them all up,” were close at their heels, and on the point of attacking their little camp. The chiefs applied to me, and desired I would put myself at their head, and lead them out to oppose their enemies. As I was a stranger, and unwilling to excite the anger of either nation, I knew not how to act; and never found myself in a greater dilemma. Had I refused to assist the Naudowessies I should have drawn on myself their displeasure, or had I met the Chipéways with hostile intentions, I should have made that people my foes, and had I been fortunate enough to have escaped their arrows at this time, on some future occasion should probably have experienced the severity of their revenge. In this extremity I chose the middle course, and desired that the Naudowessies would suffer me to meet them, that I might endeavour to avert their fury. To this they reluctantly assented, being persuaded, from the inveteracy which had long prevailed between them, that my remonstrances would be in vain.
Taking my Frenchman with me, who could speak their language, I hastened towards the place where the Chipéways were supposed to be. The Naudowessies during this kept at a distance behind. As I approached them with the pipe of peace, a small party of their chiefs, consisting of about eight or ten, came in a friendly manner towards me; with whom, by means of my interpreter, I held a long conversation; the result of which was, that their rancour being by my persuasions in some measure mollified, they agreed to return back without accomplishing their savage purposes. During our discourse I could perceive, as they lay scattered about, that the party was very numerous, and many of them armed with muskets.
Having happily succeeded in my undertaking, I returned without delay to the Naudowessies, and desired they would instantly remove their camp to some other part of the country, lest their enemies should repent of the promise they had given, and put their intentions in execution. They accordingly followed my advice, and immediately prepared to strike their tents. Whilst they were doing this they loaded me with thanks; and when I had seen them on board their canoes I pursued my route.
To this adventure I was chiefly indebted for the friendly reception I afterwards met with from the Naudowessies of the Plains, and for the respect and honours I received during my abode among them. And when I arrived many months after at the Chipéway village, near the Ottowaw lakes, I found that my fame had reached that place before me. The chiefs received me with great cordiality, and the elder part of them thanked me for the mischief I had prevented. They informed me, that the war between their nation and the Naudowessies had continued without interruption for more than forty winters. That they had long wished to put an end to it, but this was generally prevented by the young warriors of either nation, who could not restrain their ardour when they met. They said, they should be happy if some chief of the same pacific disposition as myself, and who possessed an equal degree of resolution and coolness, would settle in the country between the two nations; for by the interference of such a person an accommodation, which on their parts they sincerely desired, might be brought about. As I did not meet any of the Naudowessies afterwards, I had not an opportunity of forwarding so good a work.
About thirty miles below the Falls of St. Anthony, at which I arrived the tenth day after I left Lake Pepin, is a remarkable cave of an amazing depth. The Indians term it Wakon-teebe, that is, the Dwelling of the Great Spirit. The entrance into it is about ten feet wide, the height of it five feet. The arch within is near fifteen feet high and about thirty feet broad. The bottom of it consists of fine clear sand. About twenty feet from the entrance begins a lake, the water of which is transparent, and extends to an unsearchable distance; for the darkness of the cave prevents all attempts to acquire a knowledge of it. I threw a small pebble towards the interior parts of it with my utmost strength: I could hear that it fell into the water, and notwithstanding it was of so small a size, it caused an astonishing and horrible noise that reverberated through all those gloomy regions. I found in this cave many Indian hieroglyphicks, which appeared very ancient, for time had nearly covered them with moss, so that it was with difficulty I could trace them. They were cut in a rude manner upon the inside of the walls, which were composed of a stone so extremely soft that it might be easily penetrated with a knife: a stone every where to be found near the Mississippi. The cave is only accessible by ascending a narrow, steep passage that lies near the brink of the river.
At a little distance from this dreary cavern is the burying-place of several bands of the Naudowessie Indians: though these people have no fixed residence, living in tents, and abiding but a few months on one spot, yet they always bring the bones of their dead to this place; which they take the opportunity of doing when the chiefs meet to hold their councils, and to settle all public affairs for the ensuing summer.
Ten miles below the Falls of St. Anthony the River St. Pierre, called by the natives the Waddapawmenesotor, falls into the Mississippi from the west. It is not mentioned by Father Hennipin, although a large fair river: this omission, I conclude, must have proceeded from a small island that is situated exactly at its entrance, by which the sight of it is intercepted. I should not have discovered this river myself, had I not taken a view, when I was searching for it, from the high lands opposite, which rise to a great height.
Nearly over against this river I was obliged to leave my canoe, on account of the ice, and travel by land to the Falls of St. Anthony, where I arrived on the 17th of November. The Mississippi from the St. Pierre to this place is rather more rapid than I had hitherto found it, and without islands of any consideration.
Before I left my canoe I overtook a young prince of the Winnebago Indians, who was going on an embassy to some of the bands of the Naudowessies. Finding that I intended to take a view of the Falls, he agreed to accompany me, his curiosity having been often excited by the accounts he had received from some of his chiefs: he accordingly left his family (for the Indians never travel without their households) at this place, under the care of my Mohawk servant, and we proceeded together by land, attended only by my Frenchman, to this celebrated place.
We could distinctly hear the noise of the water full fifteen miles before we reached the Falls; and I was greatly pleased and surprized, when I approached this astonishing work of nature: but I was not long at liberty to indulge these emotions, my attention being called off by the behaviour of my companion.