American Republican and Baltimore daily clipper. [volume] (Baltimore, Md.) 1844-1846, 1845-08-01


IT. recent pleasure excursion on tbs elegant
steamer "loWa,n whose officers are exceeding
ly poht e and attentive, we were landed, by re-
quest, where roaming party Of Wnnebagoes
had ma de the. transient home, on the banks
of the Upper Mississippi; the surrounding
scenery was verv beautiful; the eye was charm
ed wit!i the fower-ca-peted prairie, where eve
" var ETY. of color seem to tremble and COM
m.ngle, as the gentle breeze stirred the delicate
grass nd made it a waving sea OF lcvelness.
Beyon, !, ''the everlasting hills" arose in gran
deur a I'D sublimity ss if to shut in and guard
Ibis sp' u of Paradise, where Nature seemed to
reyel Il her mere JOYOUS hours, beneath the
smiles of summer akies; where Spring had
sp:nkl ed fowers--and whose voice came
whispe ring in the signing zephyr, or made the
distant dell voca! with the songs of BIRDS
Upon his beautiful spot, as we have said, a
bard oil the WiRnebsgo tribe Ct Indians were
making transient stay. They have beome
SO vita ted and depraved by their contact with
the VIII ties, tina. they are now but poor spec-
meas The Indian character. Still,we found
a few g braves among this party of sogse forty
sous, " those natures, though tainted, seemed
not to h ave lost all their orig inal worth. I'm
mediate ly upon our landing we were Vocifer-
ous!y q eeted by some half dozen of the band,
who we re most delightfully."- "haPPy," and we
were i'm portuned fog t'whiskee" from each and
all of nhm, which seemed to be all the Eng
lish they could speak, with the exception, per-
haps, OF the exclamations-'' me-Wnnebago
great Chief-whiskst." In our examination
of the |, 'dges, we received any thing blu. plea
sure, for they were generally most abominably
filthy.
From one lodge, Or wigwam, venerable old
Indian, whose few struggling white hairs
would have entitled him to respect at all times,
stepped forth and greeted us all in the most
friendly m Snner. He gave US to understand
in his broken English that he had been great
chief among his people, and there was a good
deal Of dignity about the old warrior, as he in
formed as that he had been to see our fathe, at
Washington, and had had long talk with
him, and that the silver medallion which he
wore about his neck he had received upon the
occasion There seemed to be mournfu e.
preston in his face when We drew his attention
to the drunken party of his children, who were
shouting and dancing in the distance, and q
melancholy smile lit up his withered features,
as he replied, "whiskee too much" He was
one Of tie mos, intelligent lndians we have
ever seen. He wished US to know that the glo-
rlous days, his people had passed away-that
those who surrounded him were Winnebagoes
bat in name, ''firewater people," which was
liIe UeSt expression ne cOuld give W uehhe "edh-
ness and degeneracy. The old chief, as he
showed US the wrinkles of age upon his brow,
and his weak end decrepit form, pointed down
to the earth and forcibly CALCULATED ''me glad"
meaning that he was glad he was near his end.
Shaking hands with the old man, we moved
onward to a party who might be considered
real ''loafers'' and no mistake; they were en-
gagged in smoking, eating and drinking, stretch
ed at length upon the green sward, each one
engaged according TO taste, or fancy, an occa-
sional ''grunt" was the nearest approach they
made towards conversation, for which. indeed,
they seemed to be entirely too sloathful. Their
manner of eating and drinking was decidedly
primitive; they seemed TO be well aware OF the
fact that "6ngers were made before knives and
forks Their drinking was "word OF mouth
operation, the keg of liquor being elevated and
the lips being applied to the bung-hole, to
which they adhered as though to remain for
ever; few ''gurgling" sounds was all that re-
leved the monotony of the amusement. AS
the keg was passing round the circle, fall
ca used it to spring leak, aud one OF them
while drinking saw the liquid stream squirting
out; taking the keg from his mouth, he held 1t
forth at arms length, seeming to regard it with
u good deal of wonder, and finally applied his
mouth to the new aperture, regardless of the
blng- hole, whence the liquor came out in
regular gush,-this seemed to be new source
of wonderment TO him. Some one of our pas
8engers remarked, "look out old fellow, or
you'll lose all your whiskey." With all the
gravity in the world, after takinga good look