XI
THE FASHIONABLE TOUR
George Catlin, whose wanderings in the West had acquainted him with the most beautiful and the most accessible scenic spots of the country, urged upon his readers the adoption of a trip to the Falls of St. Anthony as the “Fashionable Tour”.[439] Primitive life and unspoiled landscapes could be seen from the comfortable decks of the steamboat. The objective point of these trips was the Falls of St. Anthony, but it was at Fort Snelling that the passengers were dropped. Only because of the necessity of bringing supplies to the troops at the post did the steamboats make the journey. It is in the writings of these visitors that there have been preserved many pictures of life in and about Fort Snelling. Moreover, these visits from the outside world brought pleasure and satisfaction to the smaller world about the fort.
In the month of May, 1823, occurred an event which was epochal, not only in regard to the commercial development of the Northwest, but also in respect to the growth of the upper Mississippi as a Mecca for travellers. The steamboat “Virginia”, one hundred and twenty feet long with a twenty foot beam, commanded by Captain Crawford, left St. Louis with supplies for Fort Snelling; on the tenth of May it was received by the soldiers at the fort with a salute of cannon and by the assembled Indians with awe and consternation.[440] “I know not what impression the first sight of the Phoenician vessels might make on the inhabitants of the coasts of Greece,” wrote one who was a passenger on that eventful voyage, “or the Triremi of the Romans on the natives of Iberia, Gaul, or Britain; but I am sure it could not be stronger than that which I saw on the countenances of these savages at the arrival of our steam-boat.”[441]
The man who wrote these words was J. C. Beltrami, an Italian refugee, who for political reasons had fled from his native land. In 1823 he met Major Taliaferro at Pittsburgh and requested permission to accompany him to the Falls of St. Anthony. This was granted, and in company with the Indian agent he arrived at Fort Snelling on the first steamboat to brave the current of the upper Mississippi.[442] Here for almost two months he was entertained by the officials at the post, visiting the Indian bands, attending their councils, writing letters to “My Dear Countess”,[443] and conversing with Mrs. Snelling who alone could speak French with him.[444] He was on the point of setting out overland for Council Bluffs when another party arrived at the post.
In the list of the exploring expeditions which traversed the region about the head of Lake Superior, by far the most important was the one led by Stephen H. Long and conducted under the auspices of the War Department. The permanent members of the party were Major Long of the Topographical Engineers, Thomas Say, zoölogist and antiquary, William H. Keating, mineralogist and geologist, Samuel Seymour, landscape painter and designer, and James E. Colhoun, astronomer and assistant topographer. The start was made at Philadelphia on April 30, 1823, and the route led by way of Wheeling and Chicago to Fort Crawford at Prairie du Chien. From this point Major Long and Mr. Colhoun travelled by land and the others by water, the two parties arriving at the fort on July 2nd and July 3rd respectively. After a few days wait the journey was again resumed late on the afternoon of July 9th.[445]
In the meantime much had been done. The orders issued to Major Long had authorized him to call upon the commanding officer at any post for men, horses, camp equipage, provisions, boats, clothing, medicines, and goods to the value of three hundred dollars to be distributed among the Indians.[446] Biscuits were baked in the ovens of the fort; Joseph Renville was engaged as an interpreter; and the detachment of troops which had accompanied them from Prairie du Chien was exchanged for a new guard, consisting of a sergeant, two corporals, and eighteen soldiers under the command of Lieutenant St. Clair Denny.[447]
But these preparations did not prevent them from enjoying the scenic views about Fort Snelling. On the sixth of July a walk was taken to the Falls of St. Anthony. An island in the river which divided the falls into two parts tempted Mr. Say, Mr. Colhoun, and Mr. Keating to cross, the water being only two feet deep. But the ford was located only a few feet above the ledge of the rock, and the slippery footing rendered the exploit extremely dangerous. When this had been safely accomplished, Mr. Say and Mr. Colhoun crossed in the same way the eastern half of the falls, while Mr. Keating with great difficulty returned to the western bank. Later when the others were crossing the dangerous passage, they were seen to be in great difficulties whereupon one of the soldiers went out and aided them to the shore. Only after they had been strengthened by a dinner, prepared by the old sergeant who was in charge of the government mills, were they able to return to the fort.[448]
The expedition went up the Minnesota River to its source, then down the Red River to Lake Winnipeg and returned to the East by way of the fur trader's route along the international boundary and Lake Superior. Fear of the Indians living about the mouth of the Blue Earth River, one of whose number had been arrested and sent to St. Louis for murder, had suggested the necessity of the military escort. But when the place was reached no trouble resulted, as the Indians had gone on their summer hunt. Accordingly nine of the soldiers were sent back with canoes—some of the supplies having been destroyed by accidents. Those who remained had no easy task. There were only nine horses, and these were reserved for the officers and “gentlemen” of the company, so that the privates were obliged to walk.[449]
On August 9th when the party left Pembina behind, their number had dwindled. Joseph Snelling, son of Colonel Snelling, who had gone with them thus far, returned by the same route with three soldiers. J. C. Beltrami, who had been allowed to cast his lot with theirs, and who had been equipped and supplied by the Indian agent, who had presented him with the “noble steed ‘Cadmus’”,[450] also left them. In company with two Chippewas and a bois-brulé of Red River, he set out for the southeast with the purpose of there finding the source of the Mississippi. Upon a small lake, which he named Lake Julia, he conferred the honor of being the head of the great river, while it seemed to him that the “shades of Marco Polo, of Columbus, of Americus Vespucius, of the Cabots, of Verazani, of the Zenos, and various others, appeared present, and joyfully assisting at this high and solemn ceremony”.[451] After a journey of great suffering he was welcomed at Fort Snelling—wearing a hat made of the bark of a tree, and clothes of skins.[452]
Not until late in the fall did the connection of Fort Snelling with this expedition cease, when the soldiers who had accompanied the party as far as Sault Ste. Marie returned to their post by the Fox-Wisconsin route after a journey rendered exceedingly disagreeable by the cold.[453]