Narrative of an Expedition through the Upper Mississippi to Itasca Lake. Henry Rowe Schoolcraft

lives of several of his most zealous agents and officers, (including the governor of his colony,) finally triumphed in asserting the rights of the Hudson’s Bay Company, and quieted, by an amalgamation of stocks, the claims of his intrepid rivals.

      One of the most painful atrocities which arose, in the course of this rivalry, was the murder of Owen Keveny. As the facts were subsequently detailed in a court of justice, they may be succinctly narrated. Mr. Keveny, a gentleman in the service of the Hudson’s Bay Company, was taken prisoner by the North West Company, in the summer of 1816; and ordered to be sent out from Red river to Montreal. On ascending the river Winnipec, (northwest of the Lake of the Woods,) he was finally put in charge of a couple of engagés, named Faye and La Point, in a canoe, with an Indian guide, called Joseph, Son-of-the-White-partridge, with directions to take him to Rainy Lake. By these he was landed on an island below the Dalles, where they slept. Next morning Keveny complained of being ill, and asked Faye to bring him some warm water. The latter, on coming to the beach, found that La Pointe, and the Indian, had put out into the stream. On being called, they came ashore and took in Faye, and all then went down the river together, abandoning Keveny on the island. A few days afterwards one of the engagés in the canoe, quarrelled with the Indian, and the latter left them. They then turned about and began to ascend the river, but, having lost their guide, could not find their way, and soon encamped on a small island, resolved to wait till some canoe should pass. Four or five days had elapsed, when their expectations were answered, by the arrival of a light canoe, with two partners of the North West Company, and Charles de Reinhard, a clerk, and a Boisbrulè, named Mainville, besides the Indian, Joseph, Son-of-the-White-partridge, who had fled from Faye and La Pointe, below. After a short halt, during which Mr. M‘Lellan, (a partner of the North West Company,) beat the two men with a canoe-pole, all embarked for Rainy Lake. The same day they met other canoes, from which they learned, that Keveny, whose life had been threatened by de Reinhard and others, had left the island, where he was first abandoned, and gone up the river five or six leagues, to another island situated above the Dalles. He was now the subject of engrossing interest and conversation. On reaching this, they found Keveny, as expected. Mr. Grant, one of the partners, landed, with others, and shook hands with him. They then embarked, leaving de Reinhard, Mainville, and Joseph, Son-of-the-White-Partridge, on the island with Keveny. After going two or three leagues further up the river, they encamped. Some time after landing, the report of a gun was heard in the direction they came from. In half an hour’s time, a canoe came from the same direction, having in it de Reinhard, Mainville, and Joseph, Son-of-the-White-Partridge. It had much blood in it, together with the trunks, and clothes worn by Keveny, but Keveny himself was not there. On examining the coat, there was perceived to be a ball hole, and an incision, in different parts of it. Keveny’s trunks were then landed, unlocked, and a division made of his clothes, linen, and other effects. De Reinhard wiped the blood from his sword, declaring in the hearing of the men, as if glorying in the perpetration of the act, that he had killed him, and was entitled to the best apparel, which he accordingly appropriated to himself. Mainville took the perforated coat.

      The facts of this foul deed appeared to be these. Keveny, with the three persons left with him, by the Northwest partners, embarked in a small Indian canoe, to ascend the river. He complained of being unwell, and was landed at a certain spot. De Reinhard, Mainville, and Joseph, waited at the beach. De Reinhard stood near the canoe as Keveny re-embarked, and suddenly drawing a short sword, thrust it into his body. Keveny doubled down under the blow, but being a tall and powerful man, (although weakened by disease,) he recovered himself, seized the blade of the sword, and would have wrenched it away and overpowered the assassin, had he not called to Mainville to fire. The latter obeyed. The ball passed through Keveny’s neck, and he instantly fell. It does not seem that the Indian participated in the act. The body was stripped and left on shore, unburied. Two years after (i. e. 1818,) De Reinhard, who had, it seems, been a subaltern officer in one of the disbanded foreign regiments, was tried for the murder at Quebec, proved guilty, (by his own confessions to the men at the encampment,) and sentenced to the gallows. Mainville escaped.

      CHAPTER IV.

       Table of Contents

       Brief detail of transactions at Cass Lake.—A select exploring party is organised here, for ascending to the actual source of the Mississippi.—Council with the Indians.—Speech of Oza Windib.—The Indians furnish canoes and guides.—Arrangement of the party.—Notice of a Warrior’s widow.—Scalp dance.—Facts respecting foreign interference in the trade of the Upper Mississippi.—The question of the use of ardent spirits in the trade.—Act of Congress of 1832, prohibiting it.—Departure of the exploring party.—Ascent to Pamitchi Gumaug, or Lac Travers.—Its elevation and size.—A Shingaba Wossin.—Image worship.—Bay.—Ultimate forks of the Mississippi.—Ascend the east fork.—Lake Marquette.—Lake La Salle.—Kubbakunna Lake.—Notices of the Natural History.

      Having determined to organise a select party at this lake, to explore the source of the river, measures were immediately taken to effect it. A council of the Indians was assembled, and the object declared to them. They were requested to delineate maps of the country, and to furnish the requisite number of hunting canoes and guides. Oza Windib, said, “My father, the country you are going to see, is my hunting ground. I have travelled with you many days.4 I shall go with you farther. I will myself furnish the maps you have requested, and will guide you onward. There are many rapids in the way, but the waters are favorable. I shall consult with my band about the canoes, and see who will step forward to furnish them. My own canoe, shall be one of the number.”

      Before night the maps were completed, and five different individuals, including Oza Windib, brought each a canoe of the proper size and laid it down. Two young men expressed their willingness to go, as additional guides. Seven engagés and a cook, were added to this number, making, with Lieut. J. Allen, (who declared he could push his men no farther, Doct. Douglass Houghton, the Reverend Wm. T. Boutwell, Mr. George Johnston, and myself,) sixteen persons. These, with their travelling beds, were distributed among five canoes, with provisions for ten days, a tent and poles, oil cloth, mess basket, tea-kettle, flag and staff, a medicine chest, some instruments, an herbarium, fowling pieces, and a few Indian presents. The detachment of infantry was left in their encampment on the island, under the command of their non-commissioned officer. The remainder of the party, with the baggage and travelling equipment, was placed in charge of Mr. Le Default, a clerk of one of the upper posts of trade, who was attached to the expedition from Fond du Lac, and obligingly undertook the acquisition of certain points of information, during the contemplated absence.

      While these arrangements were in process, a mixed group of men, women, and children, from the Indian village, thronged our encampment. Among them I observed the widow of a Chippewa warrior, who had been killed some three or four weeks previous, in the foray of the Leech Lake war party, in the Sioux country. She was accompanied by her children and appeared dejected. I asked one of the Indians the place of her residence. He replied, here; that her husband had been a brave warrior, and went, on the call of the Leech Lake chief, with a number of volunteers, to join the party. I asked him, of what number the party consisted? He replied, about one hundred. Who had led them? The Gueuile Platte. Where they had met the enemy? South of the head of Leaf river. What had been the result of the action? They were victorious, having taken three scalps on the field, and lost but one, being the husband of the widow referred to. The action had however, been at long shots, with frequent changes of position, and the enemy had finally fled to a village for reinforcement. The Chippewas took this opportunity to retreat, and, after consultation, returned, bringing back the three scalps, as memorials of their prowess. These trophies had, we learned, been exhibited in the customary dances at Leech Lake, after which one of them was forwarded to Oza Windib’s band, to undergo a like ceremony. And it was finally presented to the widow.

      It was now exhibited by the young men, in her behalf, for a purpose which was certainly new to me. Although I knew that this people were ingenious in converting most circumstances, connected with both fortune and misfortune, into a means of soliciting alms, I had never before seen the scalp of an enemy employed as a means of levying contributions. Such, however,