The Minnesota pioneer. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn. Territory) 1849-1855, 1851-07-17

Of civilized life. do,iing The bank Of
his beautiful river before ns, with ttrv ing towns
and busting cities, and these brDad and fertile
plains with cultivated fields. glowing 6resides.
and happy homes.
= These are the Grand objscis of my. tnission
among you, and therefore give YOU
Long life, prosperity and happiness to the Da-
kota nation.
This address was received with marked salts
faction by all present and being interpreted by
Mr.. La FTanboise and Mr.. Forbes to the Indians
who were crowded around oa all sides, was re-
cejvcd by them with hobs Of assent and APP
probation. tS ~ ft4 81 3f
In the course Of the afternoon, Hon. VIM IL.
Forbes give a sentiment zsss7,s,sz.s sr.ss.afs
Cor. Ramsey, ex-oificio Superintendent Of
Indian Affaifs--A public officer who has, as he
deserves to have, the entire confidence of the In
dInns under his charge. = f'fr - e9a 81
To which Gov. Ramsey replied briefly =: 0at
thank the gentleman for the sentiment. and
the company for the cbeerialness with which il
has been received. Iapprecite il the more high
y as coming from Mr.. J. who is allied TO the Da-
keta nation speaks their language, and has an OPP
portunity Of knowing therefore their sentiments.
can truly say, that il has been my constant en-
deavor since came 10 this Territory, to do my
duty TO The Government, to the people without
regard 10 party, and 10 the Indian, no matter al
What sacriiceG and, though public officers cannot
expect to be al all times properly appreciated, nor
their acts receive at once the appreciation Of every
one; yet am proud TO know. from repeated ev-
licences Of the facts, that my conduct has gwen
Satisfaction to The Indians amorg US, and to his
most intelligent. white friends In conclusion, ale
low me to give if43g a4tkss p e}a,
s.Afiilard Fillmore--A national ,President---a
man worthy Of his hgi, trust. siail &
Our space will not allow US to give all the nu-
meron> sentiments given but we cannot refrain
from, presenting the following by that "old set
tier" HENRY JACKSON, Esq, of ST. Paul:
'.Gopernor Ramsey---A Wing but his ad-
ministraiion has given more general satisfaction
to the Wings and to all honest Democrats, than
any public officer in the Territory of Minnesota
The company present included nien from all
the way down the river, from Pernbina, froDl
Co,eau de Prairie, and from the wilds Of The Up
per Missouri. fiksi sa atsgf 3agil b'a
After dinner, there was virgin feast Of the
young Dakota girls, nineteen in number. and if
teen young men. Before setting down 10 the
feast, consisting Of tea and fried cakes, each of
the party advanced and touched red stone which
was placed IN their midst, this being the test oath
Of virginiiy. Il .sej slYg nj v4kfrer 5t.,,fl
A young man jumped into the circle and seized
one Of the girls. and dragged her ont without any
ceremony. 1t is the general belief in the camp,
based however. entirely upon surmise, that the
young mans accusation Of the girl. is false and
that he attempted to fasten this disgrace upon her,
IN revenge Of her having given him The mitten.
Il he baud Of Sissetons from Little Russia, have
with them little. starved half-breed boy, an or
phan. Col. Lea, learning his history, tina, he was
a little ouscass. not even having name, adopted
the bay, clothed him, and named him Luke Lea
Gov. Ramsey ana Mr.. Hugh Tyler, at eve
ning, took aying ride on horseback, ten miles
back If the Traverse, 10 the timber. They re-
port it to be most delightful region equal to
any of the lands they have seen. er o 1t4,
~ p. $50 . July IL, 1851.
q This seems to be the region of ihunder-stsrms
the pivot Of tempes's--Ihe shifting place Of the
winds. Clouds fly around and over it, driven by
ever-changing atmospheric currents, intermingling
sunshine and shower in the same hour, and mix
ing up the elements Of weather, rather finer than
we like to have them sliced. The Indians, who
dislike rain and fear thunder. havelaken the sub
iect Of the fher into careful considerations be-
ing determined to have different state Of things
This morning one ofthe chiefs Walking Thunder,
made speech TO this cf1ect:f.sThis high water is
,unusnaL The Great Spirit does not smile. He
grows at os. Something does not soit him. dur
corn-6eds, where they? Our young men
cannot hunt The powder in our rifles is wet 1t
Great Father gives Us little beef and little corn,
since, we came to the Treaty. But we are poor i,
very poor. Our ribs may be counted like the poles
of lodge-frame, through. the skin. Corn win not
grow without sunshine, and if we have nothing to
cal, we mast starve. Our horses are thin. We
thought they could run some; but even Shasta
Wustass (Mr. Tyler's) horse can ouirnn our fast
est buffalo nag. Our dogs are lean, very lean
They are too poor to bark. They howl a little
sometimes, but very feebly. We are glad our
Father came up here with little corn and little
beef, and it may be few slices Of pork for us
TO eat. We We're very hungry. and we are yet.
The Red Man is always hungry. The White
young men are fat They look very sleek ard
greasy. The reason istbat the Great Spirit gives
them more food. We do not like so much rain !;
II Is more than there is any use of. tho! ho!] Our
tents are soaked with water. 1t pains us to have
our women loaded down with wet baggage when
we travel. We cannot bear it. II may be the
steamboats, drove this food up the river when they
caiTe. The boats brought up a little corn, and a
little beef, and il may be a slice Of pork. They
are welcome Tho. bo!] DUE tt.t'
"Our lodges are peaked; our Great Fathers
tents are sot peaked. The Great Spirit rains on
both. But there is too much thunder, and rain
and sharp lightning. We want more beef and
less thunder. They say the Great Thunder Bird
has dashed his wing upon the head of the Blue
Earth river, and broken open fountain on, of
which this freshet comes. Ii was whispered to
me in a dream, that we ought to have a round
dance this afternoon. Tho. no! boil II may save
US much thunder, and lightning and rain. IF our
Great Father wants TO buy OR land, we viii talk
with him about il at a proper time. Our Great
Father has several cattle left yet. There
is no hurry. Beef is good for the Red Man, but
coolocsii tpork) is not very. II orr Great Fa-
theirs children think so much OF cookoesh, why
do not they ca, it, instead Of beef? Probably,
because like whiskey, they think beef is not whole-
some for US. Tho! lo. ho.l We will attend The
Round dance this afternoon, and try to allay the
storm, and app,ase the Evil Spirit The wing Of
the Thunder Bird must be broken.'' Gho no no n
7 Accordingly, in The afternoon, the Round dance
was made ready. The spot selected was nearly
half mile back of the, river, upon the plain
between The first and second bench. The Com
mission, and in fact our whole camp, was pres
ent, aud perhaps 1000 Indians of the several
bands The theatre Of this religious dance, was
a circular enclosure made upof the limbs Of the
uspen stuck in the ground, interviewer with four
arched g1teways, one toward each point of the
compass, making an urea about the size Of a large
circus. a ;.sfFt9 s5sss sasss-lt s-t,.assl s'as
pole was planted in the middle of the area,
with an image cut out Of bark, designed 10 rep
resent the Thunder bird, hanging suspended by
strinp from its ton Al each cf rho fonr ,rchaJ