The Portage Through Mud Lake. 329 position had transcended the angry passions of war, as already shown in preceding pages. His family consisted of John H., who has ever since lived at Chicago till his death in 1865.* and was highly esteemed as one of her able business men; Eleanor, who afterwards married Alexander Wolcott, Indian agent, and Maria, who married General Hunter, and is now living with her husband at Washington; Robert A. late United States paymaster at Chicago, who died Dec. 13th, 1873, and was buried in Graceland Cemetery, and Mrs. Helm, daughter of Mrs. Kinzie by her first husband. Her father, Captain McKillip, was an officer in the British service at the time of Wayne's campaign. Besides the Kinzie family was the family of Antoine Ouilimette, a Frenchman, with a Pottawatomie wife and four children: J. B. Beaubien was then away on some tour through the country, and these two families, besides the garrison, composed the entire population of Chicago, except the Indians, who at that time were far more numerous than the whites, throughout the entire country. And had they been told that the new comers would eventually crowd them out and occupy the country themselves, such a prediction would have been received with no small measure of astonishment and indignation. After resting at Chicago three days, during which time young Hubbard was the guest of Mr. Kinzie, he started with his party for their destination, which was the territory under the superintendence of Mr. DeChamps. The batteaux were again loaded, and they paddled up the tranquil waters of the south branch of the Chicago river, sending tiny ripples among the tall grasses on each bank of the stream, which were then but a monotonous alluvial of mud, in no respect different from what they were when Marquette first passed them, one hundred and fifty-six years and two months before. After rowing about to the present site of Bridgeport, a portage had to be made to the Desplaines. This was a laborious task. The water was unusually low, and mud lake, the natural estuary between the two streams, was an uninviting succession of mud-bars and stagnant pools, where sun fish, frogs and tadpoles were huddled together in close quarters. Seeing the work before them, it was deemed advisable to encamp till the portage could be made without damage to the store of goods of which their freight consisted. This done, package after package was carried on the shoulders of the men nine miles to the banks of the Desplaines. The empty batteaux were polled or dragged through Mud lake and transported to the Desplaines * He died June 21st, on board the cars, near Pittsburgh. He had conversed in his usual vein of agreeableness to the last moment; and was in the act of giving alms to a poor woman, when he expired without warning. with the goods, but not without many a heavy strain. After the portage was made and the party were gliding down the Desplaines, congratulating themselves that they should meet no more obstructions on their way, they suddenly came upon sand-bars in the river that in its low stage of water extended from shore to shore, and the goods had to be again taken out of the batteaux and carried over them, as well as the batteaux themselves. By these tardy advances the Illinois river was finally reached, down which they paddled their way to finally disband into small parties, each of which had some particular station allotted to them respectively, as a trading post under the general direction of Mr. DeChamps, the agent. The Pottawatomies were then the all-prevailing Indian power of central and northern Illinois. Their principal village was near the present site of Utica, on the Illinois river, and numbered about 2000 inhabitants. At the mouth of the Mazon river they had a village of 700 inhabitants, of which Wabansie was chief. They also had villages at Cashe Island on the Desplaines, at Mount Joliet, Kankakee, and various other places besides Chicago, all of which Mr. Hubbard reports with accurate details of their social conditions, and the style of their architecture, if an Indian camp deserves that name. They were made of flags, woven and lapped ingeniously together, like a web of cloth. This was wound around a frame work of poles set up in a tripod, or rounded at the top and bent over so as to form a cone-shaped roof. Through this an aperture was made at the top for the smoke to escape. The floor consisted of mats spread around the outermost circumference, while the centre was the bare ground, on which the fire was made. Around this all could sit in a circle facing each other. Their beds were skins thrown over the mats. The door was an opening in the wall of drapery enclosing the lodge, over which a blanket or skin was suspended. All slept soundly in this simple shelter without fear of burglars, and many a night has my informant, Mr. Hubbard, reposed after the toils of camp life in these lodges with his Indian friends. Almost all of Mr. Hubbard's experience was of a friendly character, but on his way towards St. Louis he made a short stop at Peoria, in company with Mr. DeChamps, and at this place encountered a beligerent Indian which adventure he has told in Ballance's History of Peoria, as follows: C. BALLANCE, Esq. CHICAGO DEC. 30TH, 1867. Dear Sir: In reply to yours of the 26th, I have to say that I was in Peoria the last days of 1818, for the first time, on my way to St. Louis passing there, returning about the 20th November, and wintering about one mile above Hennepin. It was my first year as an Indian trader. As we rounded the point of the lake, above Peoria, on our down trip, noticed that old Fort Clark was on fire, just blazing up. Reaching it, we found about 200 Indians congregated, enjoying a war-dance, painted hideously, with scalps Traffic With The Indians. 331 on their spears and in their sashes, which they had taken from the heads of Americans in the war with Great Britain, from 1812 to 1815. They were dancing, rehearsing their deeds of bravery, etc. These were the only people then there or in that vicinity. I never knew of a place called Creve-Cœur. I have a vivid recollection of my first arrival there. A warrior, noticing me (then a boy of 16), asked Mr. DesChamps, the chief of our expedition, who I was. He replied that I was his adopted son, just from Montreal; but this was not credited. The Indian said I was a young American, and seemed disposed to quarrel with me. Des Champs, wishing to mix with the Indians, left a man on the boat with me, telling him not to leave, but take care of me, not to go out. Through this man, I learned what the purport of the conversation was. The Indian remained at the bow of the boat, talking to me through this man, who interpreted, saying, among other things, that I was a young American. and taking from his sash scalp after scalp, saying they were my nation's, he saw I was frightened. I was never more so in my life, fairly trembling with fear. His last effort to insult me was taking a long-haired scalp, (Here the Colonel describes the particular way in which the Indian made it very wet, and then proceeds) and then shaking it so that it sprinkled me in the face. In a moment all fear left me, and I seized Mr. DesChamp's double-barreled gun, took good aim, and fired. The man guarding me was standing about half way between us, and, just as I pulled the trigger, he struck up the gun, and thereby saved the life of the Indian, and perhaps mine also. It produced great confusion, Des Champs and all our men running to their boats. After a short consuitation among the old traders, Des Champs ordered the boats to push out, and we descended the stream and went down three or four miles, and camped on the opposite side of the river. That was the first experience of hostile array with my red brethren. Yours, etc., G. S. HUBBARD. After each party of Mr. De Champ's men had distributed themselves at various stations, which were generally on the bank of some stream, the first business was to secure their goods in a kind of store built of logs, in the rear of the building in which they lived. This done, all but two or three sallied forth into the back country, in squads of two or more, to seek the locality where the Indians were transiently encamped for a hunt. Having found them, the bartering began. Blankets, knives, vermilion and trinkets were spread in tempting display, as a shopman would exhibit his goods in show windows. The furs obtained for these were carried back to the stations, and a new recruit of goods brought out for exchange. In this way the winter was spent, and when spring opened, the whole corps of traders returned to Mackinaw, with their batteaux loaded with the results of their winter's trade. The Indians gave up the fur hunting, and betook themselves to their lodges in time to dig up the ground with sharp sticks and plant a crop of the ever essential corn for subsistence. This routine was repeated annually by the traders and Indians, till the beaver and other fur-bearing animals vanished before the plow and spade of civilization. Besides the garrison and the American Fur Company at Chicago, was the Indian agency, an indispensible institution wherewith to settle disputes which might arise between them and the whites, |