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CHAPTER XXI.

A VISIT TO THE NORTHERN INDIANS .JOURNEY
THERE--ENGAGE BOARD AT A TAVERN--LAND-
LORD ACCOMPANIES US TO THE INDIAN CAMP--
DINNER WITH THE INDIANS LANDLORD'S DIS-
GUST--BEAUTIFUL COUNTRY OF THE SAGINAW
AND SHIAWASEE RIVERS -- HEAVY TIMBER --
RICH MANNER OF LIVING ROAST PORCUPINE
AND COON -- TRADE WITH THE INDIANS --
RETURN HOME -- LAST HUNT IN 1866

I HAD learned by a traveler that there was a tribe of Indians in the northern part of Michigan very fond of trading; and that they would trade fine ponies for dogs and guns. So in the fall of 1860, my son and myself collected together quite a variety of dogs and muskets, and started for their rendezvous, distant about two hundred miles; part of the distance to be traveled by rail-road, and part on foot.

When within twenty miles of their camp, we stopped and engaged board at a tavern, and commenced hunting coon We were very successful in this business for some time; but at length concluded to make our way to the Indian camp. We offered the landlord five dollars if he would go with us. He accepted the bounty and enlisted, but he soon became tired of the service.

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We started in the evening, and hunted all night. When morning came we were very tired and hungry. The landlord proposed to lie down and rest awhile, which we did, sleeping soundly until noon. We then got up, and I proposed cooking some squirrels and pheasants that we had caught; but Mr.------ insisted that we should go on to the Indian camp, now but a few miles distant, and get the squaws to cook them for us. This arrangement was agreed to, and we soon found ourselves within the limits of the Indian village, which consisted of a great many little wigwams built of bark, which were of the rudest construction. We entered one of these huts which was occupied by an old squaw, a young woman, and three children. We asked them to cook our game, to which they readily consented. We dressed the squirrels, and the squaws performed a similar ceremony over the pheasants. They were all put into a kettle together, and we waited with no small anxiety the progress of cooking. The squaws sat as still as we, until the boiling process was concluded, and then the kettle was set in the middle of a raised bank, covered with skins which at night furnished them a lodging place. There was also a little brown bread, made of meal pounded in a mortar burnt in a walnut block for that purpose.

Probably you have all heard stories of the dirt and filth of the Indians. But hearing is nothing to seeing and eating. The birds were robbed of

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only a small part of their feathers, and the heads, with the brains and eyes, were cooked with the body and feet. But traveling twenty-four hours without eating, forced upon me the conviction that it was best to eat what was set before me, asking no questions for conscience' sake. The table ceremonies were not very imposing, as there was but one dish for us all to eat from, but such as they were my son proposed to be master of. He therefore made a bold dive to the bottom of the kettle with thumb and forefinger, and brought up an undissected pheasant, and offered it to our friend, the landlord. Where the boiled eyes, protruding from their sockets, frightened him or not. I cannot tell; but he declined the favor, and made a dinner of potatoes and a little salt which we carried it our knapsacks.

But. being myself more accustomed to rough fare I took the meat, and made a very profitable dinner. After the meal was over, and we commenced bantering for trades, the landlord adroitly withdrew, promising if the Lord would forgive this offense, he would never be guilty of a similar one.

The Indians of Saginaw and rivers are in possession of the most beautiful country I ever saw. The land lies rolling, is well watered, and well timbered. The timber is principally pine, black and white walnut, sugar maple, beech, birch, elm, and poplar. The soil for about two feet is a

NEW MODE OF COOKING209

reddish brown, and very fertile. the only objection that can be urged to the country is the climate, it being rather cold for comfort. This section is at present scarcely penetrated by the white settle, in the extreme northern portions, but I have no doubt that before many years it will be cultivated and rendered one of the most beautiful countries of the North.

I now went further back into the woods for the purpose of hunting, and came upon another Indian camp, where they were anxious to trade me a pony for a dog. I told them I wanted the dogs to hunt with that afternoon, but would came back the next morning. I hunted all night, and went early the next morning to their camp. unfortunately I was a little too early for them. They soon began to "dig out," however, and such a variety of human beings I never saw crawl out of one nest before. It was more like the lodging place of some four-footed beasts than anything God designed to walk uprightly.

I went away for a morning hunt, promising to return and take dinner with them. When we came back, there was dangling by a string before the fire, a. large porcupine with the quills singed off, and two coons suspended in the same manner. The porcupine was evidently stuffed with something, and I was anxious to learn all that was new in the theory of dressing game, accordingly I watched proceedings.
14

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When roasted sufficiently, the old squaw took it down and commenced dissecting it. When opened, out rolled the feet of both coons, none of them having been dressed at all! The heads of the coons were not skinned below the eyes. They said this was the way to preserve the sweetness of the meat, and the feet, they affirmed, were the best part of the coon, and in distributing the delicate meat, the old squaw was very careful to see that each had a portion of the feet.

I traded a dog for a pony, made several other small trades with the Indians, and returned home.

One peculiarity of the Indians worth mentioning is, they will never trust to a white man's calculation. if you trade a hundred dollars' worth with them. they will insist upon trafficking and paying for each article separately. For instance, they sell you a hundred hides at nine pence each, they will only give you one at a time, and you must count out the money for that, then they will lay down another, and that must be paid for in the same manner; and so on until the whole are sold. In making an extensive trade with them, it, sometimes requires several days to complete the bargain. I will now give you a sketch of a little hunt which I took with my boys during the last winter, and which will close this series of hunting sketches. There had been for some time a very terrific and mournful noise heard in the woods which had

CHASE A STRANGE ANIMAL211

sorely frightened, many, and timid women and children had been driven thereby from the woods, and could not be persuaded to enter them again. I had not heard the sound myself, but from the description given, was not puzzled to decide from what source it came. I soon found from whence it proceeded, and started one day with my dog in pursuit of whatever might be the cause of it. I had only one dog, and that a hound and a very valuable one. We soon found the track of the animal, and chased it until it came out of the woods into a large clearing, where there was a thick undergrowth, which made very hard grounds for hunting. he ran bravely for awhile, but at last became tired of running, and stopped and squared himself for fight with the dog. They fought desperately for some time, but the dog was obliged to call for help. I hastened as rapidly as possible to his relief, having been left some way in the distance, during the chase. As I expected when I came to the dog, I found him covered with blood, but could no where see anything of his enemy. I looked about under the bushes and behind the logs for some time to no purpose when seeing the dogs cast an angry look into a tall bush over my head, I looked up there and saw the infuriated animal looking the vengeance he could not speak and dared not act. I leveled my revolver at him and brought him to the ground, but only wounded him; again the dog attacked him,

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and again became the bleeding victim of his butcherly claws, I took my ax: and knocked him on the head, and relieved my dog of further suffering. It was a huge catamount, measuring five feet and a half in length.