The Minnesota pioneer. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn. Territory) 1849-1855, 1851-03-13
W Aitt
TIE DAKOTAS.
Condition OF the Bands Of TIE g-.,.e,
St. Peters.

.Inteiiie encc has been rccei cd r.,,
the sources Of the ST. Peters O. 2iinn..
sofa river, that the bands of " bpatcan
and Sissetoan Sioux (Dakotas ..e IN q
most deplorablc and suffering nl..ion
from the extreme severity s. 70
there, and an almost entire G.s.t ..a,
OF any supplies of food.
The Indians p!aut-and SOM wears
raise Il very considerable qoar.r, &
corn, which they store away ior ciner-
genCics, and seasons Of the year prea
game oil all kinds is scarce. B.. having
been prevented last fall from .g., o.t
on their buffalo hunts, at the pr91er sen
son to prepare an additional qrautty Ct
food for winter, these supplies Aaye re-
conc diminished, or have in MT cases
tailed. The delay in going o. on thei,
talihunts at the usual season, WIS caused
by reports to the effect that they would
be called together for the purpose Ct
meeting the U. S. C0mmissioaers ap-
pointed to treat for the purchase of a
portion Of their country.
The Sissetoans of Lac TraYersc. agi
as far as Lae-qui-Pasle, whele ;hcv re-
NAMED for month and eat up great
quantity Of the corn raised BY the Wah-
patOans.
4 missionary Of the Amerioan Board.
who has resided for years at Lac-qui-
Parie, writes under date Of February
18th:
cit seems indeed as if we were an-
preaching time Of scarcity, which ha.
not often been known.
There are several families who plant
here, and who raised pretty good crap
OF corn, who have not now Lt- i.N
With exception Of few who are below
none of our Indians have any amount.
corn. fear they will not b. abe O.
keep enough for seed.
I'VE Lave hoped all along that a. e
would be buffalo some where whom
reach, but that seems now to h hor..-
against any reasonable ground OF hope
''Ihe lodges at the northcin island
Lac Travcrse) are said to b. buried IA
the snow, and the inhabitants - IN aad
out at the smoke hole
"After the storm of the l6th Jauua-,.
it is reported that they dug VI se}eta.ai
their horses out OF the snow and "a
them. Others are still miss;Ge and ,ur-
posed to have persisted. Ii is sand hey
have no corn there now, nothin4 hat Ssh
At the end of the lake q few iaui.ios
have little corn yet. On TIE Cotoai
they are getting very poor and wcah
having had but fish all wintcr 20 H.
terrible snow storm, Wyumanl ~i,o
persisted. Their tent lodge blew dc"a
and the inmates fled to anothc. bGt she
failed to reach it, and the neAt mornIay
was found dead. 1t must ha,5 been :;
terrible storm up there. 1t was fur
Gus enough here. The memoir Of ns-
reacheth not back 70 the like
Considering the unusually mild aao
indeed most delightful winter iha, "c aaa
in Ms vicinity, it will seem strsr.c Ha;
IN the same latitude westward, the VIA
ter has been so severe and stormy; b e
such is always the case when sna1
storms come from the north westward.
which is by no means So every "In er.
From these storms, The low or part OF
the valley of the Minnesota aid country
on the Mississippi arc protected b inc
great belt of timber known as toe 'grano
bois," or sshois franc" On The contra
ry during winters when the prey"iias
storms are from the east, and north east
ward, the snow is frequently very Geep
in this region, while on the west sidc OF
the "great timber" there is compare
lively but little snow in the great plans,
and the winter is very mild and aSreeu-
BILE. Many close observers ant person
who are in the habit Of travelling mIch
on the prairies of the west, have had re
quent occasions to remark these changes
and they are by some of them decmed
periodical. II