The Minnesota pioneer. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn. Territory) 1849-1855, 1850-07-04

leave sthe Fort; besides that, Captain
Monroe, commanding officer, was hourly
expecting a requisition for troops at
I Sank Rapids reasonable expectation
for the next day all the troops, down
to corporal's guard, marched for Sank
Rapids, to quiet the alarming troubles
with the Winnebago Indians. Captain
Kirkham, however. came on board, with
several others, and Mr.. Jackson's re-
nowned 9th Regiment band volunteered
to delight us on our way with their adj
mirable music.
A dozen Indians were at the landing,
with their ponies, covered with bells and
trappings. These animals weremounted
by several of our company, who seemed
anxious to display their horsemanship,
and galloped about the plain, to the
amusement of those on board. We
Saw nothing very remarkable in the
equestrian line, until a Mr.. Vincent,
from St. Paul, leapcd ashore from the
boat, on the back of beautiful pony
which he had taken along in the boat,
and which no bars can stop in this
way, Vincent, who seemed to grow out
Of the animals withers, did some wild
Indian riding, that made the natives stare
At last the Indians mountedtheir ponies
and galioped away at full speed.
BY this time, we
"Began to feel, as well we might,
The keen demands of appetite
Dinner was soon over, on the principle
that &C short horse is soon curricd. -
In fact, there was not enough of it to
require much comment and for the
same reason, the Captain, we know, will
excuse us from amy notice mhaterer, Of
the supper plenty Of solids and too
much Of liquids were paid for that day,
on the Anthony Wayne; but the eata-
bles turned out like a Sheriff's return
of nulla bona, endorsed legibly in empty
dishes along the whole length of the
Anthony Wayne's table yet, we doubt
not, she was perfectly conscientious
in exacting allopalhic pay for homeo-
pathic fare as it was our business,
before hand, to learn what was the
Wayne's practice; so we have no COM
plant to make-all right-all perfectly
right
THE SAINT PETER
Never was lighter hearted band of
adventures propelled by steam than the
gay multitude thronging the cabin and
decks of the Anthony Wayne, as she
turned her bow into the mouth of the
Saint Peter, to explore that rich valley
in the Southwest, along which the covet-
Gus eye Of the white man has long gazed
with prying curiosity, far away toward
the distant waters of the Blue Earth
river. Fasting is favorable to poetic
sentiment.
The delightful weather, the stirring
music of the band, the majestic scenery,
every thing, conspired to exhilarate-to
say nothing of the iced brandy. The
current of the river seemed sluggish,
winding along through a vast alluvial
intervale, like silver eel. Uniformly
about $50 feet wide, without a snag, a
sawyer, a rock, rifle, or an indenture
in either bank, the river really seemed
more like work of art, ship canal,
constructed by the labor and wealth of
a great state. than like a natural A.-A.~.
OF water, draining an immense area of
fertile lands, to the very rim of the Mis-
souri, and McKenzie's river basins
Each shore was fresh, perpendicular,
crumbling bank of alluvion, being more
elevated than the grounds more remote
from the river, which, as along the ILL
nois and the lower Mississippi were so
much depressed as to form lagoons,
filled with water and tall grass, the home
of numberless waterfowl; while still
more remote from the river, the land
rose by gradual ascent and spread
away in the rich luxuriance of waving
inclined plain, its sides crowned with
small clustering groves, and few trees
scattered over the whole expanse, upon
the east side 81 the river; while upon
the west side, the same description of
interyale was walled in at distance
from the river of about one mile, or often
less, by high, steep, grass-covered
bluff. So crooked was the river, that
we seemed all the time to be just at the
end of it; but the pilot, who was GER
tainly very skilful, contrived to wind the
boat along in labyrinth of interminable
twistings, apparently. confident that
wherever he could direct the bow of the
boat, he could sweep her stern grace
fully around and bring up the rear with
out conflicting with the bank of the river.
INDIAN VILLAGES.
At a distance of three miles from
Fort Smelling, by land, but much more
by river, we came to Black Dogs viii
lage, on the right bank-a row Of huts
and tepees extending along upon the
brow of the bluff, say 100 feet high,
and distant from the river few hundred
yards. Along the interval between the
bluff and the river, upon the warm
sandy loan, they had many little patches
of corn and beans planted, which some
Of the squaws were hoeing and near
by, on the right shore of the river, upon
the very bank of it, was Man-Cloud's
village-a nest of half dozen huts and